Shloka 61
Ahiṃsā as Threefold Restraint (Mind–Speech–Action) and the Ethics of Consumption
खरो जीवति मासांस्तु दश श्वा च चतुर्दश । बिडाल: सप्तमासांस्तु ततो जायति मानव:
kharo jīvati māsāṁs tu daśa śvā ca caturdaśa | biḍālaḥ saptamāsāṁs tu tato jāyati mānavaḥ ||
Dijo Yudhiṣṭhira: «Un ser vive diez meses en el vientre de un asno; luego catorce meses como perro; y siete meses como gato. Después de ello, nace de nuevo en condición humana». La sentencia subraya la lógica moral del karma y el arduo retorno, por grados, a la vida humana tras encarnaciones inferiores.
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights karmic causality and the idea that after experiencing lower embodiments (animal yonis) for specified durations, a being may eventually regain human birth—implying that ethical conduct is crucial to avoid degradation and to secure a meaningful human life.
In the Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction-focused dialogue, Yudhiṣṭhira speaks about the sequence and duration of births in different wombs/species, describing a progression from donkey to dog to cat and then back to human birth, as part of a broader discussion on conduct and its results.