Shloka 32
अहिंसा-प्रधान धर्मविचारः
Ahiṃsā as the Superior Dharma: Practical and Scriptural Reasoning
सैवमुक्ता महाराज कृताज्जलिरुवाच ह । पुनरेव महात्मानं नेति देवेशमव्ययम्
saivam uktā mahārāja kṛtāñjalir uvāca ha | punar eva mahātmānaṃ neti deveśam avyayam ||
Bhīṣma said: “O King, when she had been addressed in this way, Death, with hands joined in reverence, spoke again to that imperishable great-souled Lord of the gods (Brahmā), saying, ‘No, my Lord—I will not carry out the destruction of living beings.’”
पितामह उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even forces associated with punishment or ending (like Death) are portrayed as bound by dharma and moral hesitation; the text highlights compassion and restraint as virtues that must be weighed alongside cosmic duty.
Death, personified as a reverent supplicant, addresses the imperishable Lord of the gods (identified in the gloss as Brahmā) and refuses—at least momentarily—to undertake the destruction of living beings, indicating a tension between ordained function and ethical reluctance.