Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 17
Dvaipāyana–Kīṭa Saṃvāda: Karmic Memory, Fear of Death, and Embodied Pleasure
(भस्म विष्ठा कृमिर्वापि निष्ठा यस्येदृशी ध्रुवा । स काय: परपीडाभि: कथं धार्यों विपश्चिता ।।
bhasma viṣṭhā kṛmir vāpi niṣṭhā yasyedṛśī dhruvā | sa kāyaḥ parapīḍābhiḥ kathaṃ dhāryo vipaścitā ||
Bhishma dijo: «Para este cuerpo, uno de estos desenlaces es seguro e inevitable: se volverá ceniza, o se convertirá en excremento tras ser devorado por alguna criatura, o será arrojado y se llenará de gusanos. Sabiendo esto, ¿cómo podría un sabio sostener y mantener tal cuerpo infligiendo dolor a otros (por causa de su carne)? Incluso alabar el comer carne enreda a uno en la acción pecaminosa y en sus consecuencias».
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The body’s end is inevitably decay—ashes, excrement, or worms—so a discerning person should not nourish it through violence to other beings; endorsing meat-eating is portrayed as binding one to sinful karma and its results.
In Anushasana Parva’s dharma instruction, Bhishma continues advising on righteous conduct, using stark images of the body’s fate to argue against harming others for bodily sustenance, especially in the context of consuming or praising meat.