Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 56
कालयुक्तधर्मविवेकः
Discerning Dharma in Accord with Time
यस्तु शुक्लाभिजातीय: प्राणिघातविवर्जक: । निक्षिप्तशस्त्रो निर्दण्डो न हिंसति कदाचन
yastu śuklābhijātīyaḥ prāṇighātavivarjakaḥ | nikṣiptaśastro nirdaṇḍo na hiṃsati kadācana ||
Mahādeva dit : «Mais l’homme de naissance pure, qui s’abstient de tuer les êtres vivants—qui a déposé les armes et renoncé au châtiment—ne commet jamais de violence, en aucun temps.» Dans le contexte moral, le vers célèbre l’idéal d’ahiṃsā : celui qui ne blesse pas, ne fait pas blesser par ordre, n’approuve pas non plus celui qui tue, et garde une bienveillance aimante envers toutes les créatures, est loué comme atteignant l’état divin et goûtant, au séjour des dieux, des jouissances agréables venues d’elles-mêmes.
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse upholds ahiṃsā as a supreme ethical discipline: the best person is one who renounces weapons and coercive punishment and never harms living beings. In the broader context, this includes not only refraining from direct killing but also not instigating or approving violence, cultivating universal friendliness and compassion, and thereby attaining exalted spiritual merit.
Śrī Mahēśvara is instructing Devī, contrasting types of conduct and their results. Here he describes the non-violent, self-restrained person—one who has set aside weapons and punitive force—and indicates that such a person is praised and, in the surrounding passage, is said to attain divine/heavenly reward.