Shloka 108
Ahiṃsā as Threefold Restraint (Mind–Speech–Action) and the Ethics of Consumption
वर्णकादींस्तथा गन्धांश्नोरयित्वेह मानव:,राजन! जो मनुष्य लोभके वशीभूत होकर वर्णक (अनुलेपन) आदि तथा चन्दनकी चोरी करता है, वह छछूँदर होता है। उस योनिमें वह पंद्रह वर्षतक जीवित रहता है
varṇakādīṁs tathā gandhān snorayitvehā mānavaḥ, rājan! yo manuṣyo lobhake vaśībhūtaḥ kṛtvā varṇaka (anulepana) ādi tathā candanasya corī karoti, sa chachūndaraḥ bhavati. tasmin yoniṁ sa pañcadaśa varṣāṇi jīvati.
Yudhiṣṭhira dit : «Ô Roi ! L’homme que la cupidité asservit et qui vole des fards et des onguents—pâtes parfumées et bois de santal—tombe dans le sein d’une musaraigne (rat musqué). Dans cette naissance, il vit quinze ans.»
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Greed-driven theft, even of seemingly minor luxury items like perfumes, unguents, and sandalwood, is adharma and leads to painful karmic consequences—here expressed as a low animal rebirth with a fixed, limited lifespan.
Within a discourse on dharma and the fruits of actions, Yudhiṣṭhira states a specific karmic result: a person who steals fragrant cosmetics and sandalwood, being controlled by greed, is reborn as a chachūndara (shrew/musk-rat) and lives in that form for fifteen years.