Shloka 42
Ahiṃsā as Threefold Restraint (Mind–Speech–Action) and the Ethics of Consumption
यदेतदुच्यते शास्त्रे सेतिहासे च च्छन्दसि । यमस्य विषयं घोर मर्त्यों लोक: प्रपद्यते
yad etad ucyate śāstre setihāse ca chandasi | yamasya viṣayaṃ ghoraṃ martyo lokaḥ prapadyate ||
Yudhiṣṭhira dit : «Ce qui est proclamé dans les śāstra faisant autorité, dans la tradition de l’Itihāsa et dans les hymnes védiques—à savoir le redoutable domaine de Yama—c’est vers ce royaume que le monde des mortels entre inévitablement.»
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the inevitability of death and post-mortem accountability: all mortals enter Yama’s fearful jurisdiction, a truth affirmed across śāstra, itihāsa, and Vedic revelation, urging ethical living grounded in dharma.
Yudhiṣṭhira, in a didactic exchange within the Anuśāsana Parva, invokes multiple sources of authority—treatises, epic tradition, and Vedic hymns—to frame a discussion about the fate of mortals and the dread realm governed by Yama.