Shloka 48
Ahiṃsā as Threefold Restraint (Mind–Speech–Action) and the Ethics of Consumption
बलीवर्दों मृतश्चापि जायते ब्रद्यराक्षस: । ब्रह्मरक्षश्ष मासांस्त्रींस्ततो जायति ब्राह्मण:
balīvardo mṛtaś cāpi jāyate brahmarākṣasaḥ | brahmarākṣasaḥ māsāṁs trīṁs tato jāyati brāhmaṇaḥ ||
युधिष्ठिर बोले—जब बैल का शरीर छूटता है, तब वह ब्रह्मराक्षस होता है। तीन मास तक ब्रह्मराक्षस रहकर फिर वह ब्राह्मण-योनि में जन्म पाता है।
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents a karmic sequence: a being’s next state can shift dramatically based on moral causality, including an intermediate, painful or distorted condition (brahmarākṣasa) before returning to a higher birth (brāhmaṇa). It highlights accountability and the possibility of restoration after a limited period of consequence.
Yudhiṣṭhira is speaking within a dharma-discourse context, describing the post-mortem destiny of a bull: upon death it becomes a brahmarākṣasa, remains so for three months, and then is reborn as a brāhmaṇa—an illustrative example used to explain moral recompense and transformation across births.