Shloka 37
Ahiṃsā as Threefold Restraint (Mind–Speech–Action) and the Ethics of Consumption
इहलोके च स प्राणी जन्मप्रभृति पार्थिव । सुकृतं कर्म वै भुद्धक्ते धर्मस्य फलमाश्रित:
ihaloke ca sa prāṇī janmaprabhṛti pārthiva | sukṛtaṃ karma vai bhunkte dharmasya phalam āśritaḥ ||
Ô roi, en ce monde même, un être vivant, dès sa naissance, éprouve véritablement les effets des actes méritoires—les goûtant comme un fruit qui repose sur (et naît de) le dharma. Le vers souligne que l’action éthique n’est pas une abstraction : ses conséquences se vivent et se savourent dans la vie incarnée.
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Meritorious action (sukṛta-karma) yields tangible results, and these are experienced by living beings in this very life; the 'fruit' is grounded in dharma, emphasizing ethical causality rather than mere ritual or theory.
Yudhiṣṭhira addresses a kingly interlocutor and articulates a principle of dharma: from birth onward, beings partake of the consequences of their good deeds, framing dharma as a practical source of lived outcomes.