Shloka 36
Varṇa-adhikāra, Karma, and the Protection of One’s Attained Spiritual Status (वर्णाधिकारः कर्म च स्वस्थानरक्षणम्)
हंतव्योऽपि न हंतव्यः पानीयं यश्च याचते । रणे हत्वातुरान्व्यास स नरो ब्रह्महा भवेत्
haṃtavyo'pi na haṃtavyaḥ pānīyaṃ yaśca yācate | raṇe hatvāturānvyāsa sa naro brahmahā bhavet
Even one who is otherwise fit to be slain should not be killed if he begs for water. O Vyāsa, a man who, in battle, kills the wounded and distressed incurs the sin of brahmahatyā, as though he were a slayer of a brāhmaṇa.
Lord Shiva (teaching dharma to Vyāsa within the Umāsaṃhitā discourse)
Tattva Level: pashu
Shiva Form: Dakṣiṇāmūrti
FAQs
It establishes that true dharma is measured by compassion and restraint: even amid conflict, one must not abandon the Shiva-principle of protecting the vulnerable; cruelty toward the helpless binds the soul (paśu) more tightly in pāśa.
Linga-worship trains the devotee to see Shiva as the inner Lord (Pati) in all beings; therefore, harming the wounded or one who pleads for water violates the reverence cultivated through Saguna Shiva devotion and the ethic of seeing divinity in life.
A practical takeaway is to take an ahimsa-vrata (vow of non-cruelty) alongside japa of the Pañcākṣarī (Om Namaḥ Śivāya), using it to steady the mind so compassion is maintained even under pressure.