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Shloka 95

Ahiṃsā as Threefold Restraint (Mind–Speech–Action) and the Ethics of Consumption

भारत! वह दण्ड, मुद्गर और शूलकी चोट खाकर दारुण अग्निकुम्भ (कुम्भीपाक), असिपत्रवन, तपी हुई भयंकर बालू, काँटोंसे भरी हुई शाल्मली आदि नरकोंमें कष्ट भोगता है। यमलोकमें पहुँचकर इन ऊपर बताये हुए तथा और भी बहुत-से नरकोंकी भयंकर यातनाएँ भोगकर वह वहाँ यमदूतोंद्वारा पीटा जाता है ।।

tato hataḥ kṛtadhnaḥ sa tatrograir bharatarṣabha | saṃsāracakram āsādya kṛmiyonau prajāyate ||

Ô Bhārata ! Frappé par le bâton, la massue et la lance, il souffre dans des enfers cruels : la jarre de feu (Kumbhīpāka), la forêt aux feuilles d’épée, les sables brûlants et terrifiants, la contrée du śālmalī hérissée d’épines, et bien d’autres encore. Parvenu au monde de Yama, après avoir enduré ces supplices effroyables et ceux de nombreux autres enfers, il est roué de coups par les messagers de Yama. Puis cet ingrat est mis à mort là par les farouches serviteurs de Yama — ô taureau parmi les Bhārata — et il revient dans la roue du saṃsāra, renaissant dans la matrice des vers.

ततःthen/thereafter
ततः:
TypeIndeclinable
Rootततः
हतःstruck/killed (having been beaten)
हतः:
TypeAdjective
Rootहन्
FormMasculine, Nominative, Singular
कृतघ्नःan ungrateful man
कृतघ्नः:
Karta
TypeNoun
Rootकृतघ्न
FormMasculine, Nominative, Singular
सःhe
सः:
Karta
TypePronoun
Rootतद्
FormMasculine, Nominative, Singular
तत्रthere
तत्र:
Adhikarana
TypeIndeclinable
Rootतत्र
उग्रैःby fierce (ones)
उग्रैः:
Karana
TypeAdjective
Rootउग्र
FormMasculine/Neuter, Instrumental, Plural
भरतर्षभO bull among the Bharatas
भरतर्षभ:
TypeNoun
Rootभरत-ऋषभ
FormMasculine, Vocative, Singular
संसारचक्रम्the cycle of transmigration
संसारचक्रम्:
Karma
TypeNoun
Rootसंसार-चक्र
FormNeuter, Accusative, Singular
आसाद्यhaving reached/attained
आसाद्य:
TypeVerb
Rootआ-√सद्
FormAbsolutive (Gerund), Parasmaipada (usage)
कृमियोनौin a worm-insect womb/species
कृमियोनौ:
Adhikarana
TypeNoun
Rootकृमि-योनि
FormFeminine, Locative, Singular
प्रजायतेis born/comes to be born
प्रजायते:
TypeVerb
Rootप्र-√जन्
FormPresent, Indicative, Atmanepada, Third, Singular
भरतश्रेष्ठO best of the Bharatas
भरतश्रेष्ठ:
TypeNoun
Rootभरत-श्रेष्ठ
FormMasculine, Vocative, Singular

युधिछिर उवाच

Y
Yama (Yamaloka)
Y
Yamadūtas
K
Kumbhīpāka (hell)
A
Asipatravana (hell)
Ś
Śālmalī (thorny tree/hell imagery)
S
Saṃsāra (cycle of rebirth)
K
Kṛmi-yoni (worm birth)
B
Bharata/Bharatarṣabha (address)

Educational Q&A

Ingratitude (kṛtadghnatā) is treated as a serious adharma: one who fails to acknowledge and repay benefaction incurs severe karmic consequences, including torment in Yama’s realm and a degrading rebirth, illustrating that moral debts and gratitude are central to righteous conduct.

The speaker describes the post-mortem fate of a kṛtadhna: after suffering punishments in terrifying hells and being beaten by Yama’s attendants, he is forced back into the cycle of transmigration and is reborn in a low form of life (as a worm).