Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 58

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

Devanagari script

यदि गुरु अपने पुत्रके समान शिष्यको बिना कारणके ही मारता-पीटता है तो वह अपनी स्वेच्छा-चारिताके कारण हिंसक पशुकी योनिमें जन्म लेता है ।।

Transliteration

yadi guruḥ svaputrasamaṁ śiṣyaṁ akāraṇenaiva mārati tāḍayati vā, sa svacchandacāritvāt hiṁsaka-paśu-yoniṁ prāpnoti. pitaraṁ mātaraṁ caiva yastu putro ’vamanyate, so ’pi rājan mṛto janantuḥ pūrvaṁ jāyeta gardabhaḥ.

Translation

यदि गुरु पुत्र-समान शिष्य को बिना कारण ही मारता-पीटता है, तो स्वेच्छाचार के दोष से वह हिंसक पशु-योनि में जन्म पाता है। और हे राजन्, जो पुत्र माता-पिता का अपमान करता है, वह भी मरने के बाद पहले गदहा बनकर जन्म लेता है।

Word by Word

• {'yadi': 'if', 'guruḥ': 'teacher

• spiritual preceptor', 'sva-putra-samaṁ': 'like one’s own son', 'śiṣyam': 'disciple

• student', 'akāraṇena': 'without cause

• without justification', 'mārati': 'beats

• strikes', 'tāḍayati': 'hits

• chastises', 'svacchanda-cāritvāt': 'due to acting by one’s own whim

• arbitrary conduct', 'hiṁsaka': 'violent

• harmful', 'paśu-yoni': 'animal womb/birth

• animal state of existence', 'prāpnoti': 'attains

• falls into', 'pitaraṁ': 'father (accusative)', 'mātaram': 'mother (accusative)', 'caiva': 'and indeed', 'yastu': 'whoever', 'putraḥ': 'son', 'avamanyate': 'disrespects

• treats with contempt', 'rājan': 'O king', 'mṛtaḥ': 'dead

• having died', 'jantuḥ': 'living being

• creature', 'pūrvam': 'first

• initially', 'jāyeta': 'is born

• is reborn', 'gardabhaḥ': 'donkey'}

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yudhiṣṭhira
• rājan (the king addressed)
• guru (teacher)
• śiṣya (disciple)
• pitṛ (father)
• mātṛ (mother)
• putra (son)
• gardabha (donkey)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Authority must be exercised according to dharma: a teacher should not punish a disciple arbitrarily, and a son must honor father and mother. Unjust violence and filial contempt are portrayed as grave ethical failures that lead to degrading rebirths.

What is happening in the narrative?

Yudhiṣṭhira addresses a king and cites moral consequences: an unjustly violent teacher falls into an animal birth, and a son who dishonors his parents is reborn first as a donkey. The statement functions as a didactic warning within Anuśāsana Parva’s ethical instruction.