Shloka 45
Adhyāya 119: Vyāsa–Kīṭa-saṃvāda
Tapas-bala and karmic ascent across yoni
आहर्ता चानुमन्ता च विशस्ता क्रयविक्रयी । संस्कर्ता चोपभोक्ता च खादका: सर्व एव ते
āhartā cānumantā ca viśastā krayavikrayī | saṃskartā copabhoktā ca khādakāḥ sarva eva te ||
Dijo Bhīṣma: «Quien trae un animal para el degüello, quien da su consentimiento, quien mata, y quien lo compra y lo vende; asimismo quien lo prepara y quien lo consume: a todos ellos debe tenérseles por “comedores” (partícipes del acto). En términos éticos, cada cual comparte el demérito que nace de quitar una vida para alimento.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Moral responsibility for violence is collective: procuring, permitting, killing, trading, cooking, and eating are all treated as participation in the same harmful act, so the ethical and karmic burden is shared.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction on dharma, he explains the ethical chain behind animal slaughter for food, identifying every role in the process as complicit, not only the person who performs the killing.