Shloka 28
मांसपरिवर्जन-प्रशंसा (Praise of Abstention from Meat) / Ethics of Ahiṃsā in Diet and Rite
भोजयित्वा दशशतं नरो वेदविदां नृप । न्यायविद्धर्मविदुषामितिहासविदां तथा
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | bhojayitvā daśaśataṁ naro vedavidāṁ nṛpa | nyāyavid dharmaviduṣām itihāsavidāṁ tathā |
Yudhiṣṭhira dijo: “Oh rey, el hombre que alimenta a mil brāhmanes—versados en el Veda, diestros en el nyāya (razón y justicia), conocedores del dharma y de las historias sagradas y la tradición—no cae en el terrible infierno ni vuelve a quedar preso en el ciclo de las andanzas mundanas. En esta misma vida se cumplen sus propósitos, y tras la muerte goza de dicha en el más allá.”
युधिछ्िर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches the exceptional merit of anna-dāna (feeding others), especially when offered to learned and ethically grounded recipients. Such generosity is presented as a dharmic act that yields both worldly fulfillment and favorable post-mortem destiny, protecting one from hellish consequences and continued entanglement in saṁsāra.
Yudhiṣṭhira addresses a king and states a dharma-teaching: feeding a thousand Brahmins who are learned in Veda, nyāya, dharma, and itihāsa brings powerful spiritual and ethical results—success in this life and happiness after death.