Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, 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 ||
शास्त्रों में, इतिहास-परम्परा में और वेद-मन्त्रों में जो कहा गया है—यमराज का वह भयानक विषय—उसी में मर्त्यलोक अनिवार्यतः प्रवेश करता है।
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.