Shloka 2
Dvaipāyana–Kīṭa Saṃvāda: Karmic Memory, Fear of Death, and Embodied Pleasure
वैशम्पायनजी कहते हैं--जनमेजय! तदनन्तर महातेजस्वी और वक्ताओंमें श्रेष्ठ राजा युधिष्ठिरने बाणशय्यापर पड़े हुए पितामह भीष्मसे पुनः प्रश्न किया ।।
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | ṛṣayo brāhmaṇā devāḥ praśaṃsanti mahāmate | ahiṃsālakṣaṇaṃ dharmaṃ vedaprāmāṇyadarśanāt | nṛpaśreṣṭha! pṛcchāmi manovākkāyakarmabhiḥ | hiṃsām evācaran martyaḥ kathaṃ duḥkhāt pramucyate ||
Yudhiṣṭhira dit : «Ô toi dont l’esprit est vaste ! Les sages, les brahmanes et les dieux—sur l’autorité du Véda—ne cessent de louer le dharma dont la marque est la non-violence. Aussi, ô le meilleur des rois, je demande : comment un mortel qui, par la pensée, par la parole et par l’acte du corps, ne pratique que la violence, pourrait-il être délivré de la souffrance qui en découle ?»
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Non-violence is presented as a Veda-endorsed hallmark of dharma, and Yudhiṣṭhira frames ethics as comprehensive—covering intention (mind), expression (speech), and conduct (body). The question highlights karmic consequence: persistent violence across these three levels binds one to suffering, so liberation requires reform at all three.
After the war, Bhīṣma lies on his bed of arrows, instructing Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma. In this chapter, Yudhiṣṭhira again questions Bhīṣma, citing the praise of ahiṃsā by sages, Brahmins, and gods, and asks how a person devoted to violence in thought, word, and deed could ever escape the resulting misery.