Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 90
Ahiṃsā as Threefold Restraint (Mind–Speech–Action) and the Ethics of Consumption
सूकरो जातमात्रस्तु रोगेण प्रियते नूप । श्वा ततो जायते मूढ: कर्मणा तेन पार्थिव
sūkaro jātamātras tu rogeṇa mriyate nṛpa | śvā tato jāyate mūḍhaḥ karmaṇā tena pārthiva ||
नरेश्वर! सूअर-योनि में जन्म लेते ही वह रोग से मर जाता है। पृथ्वीनाथ! उसी पापकर्म के कारण फिर वह मूढ़ जीव कुत्ता बनता है।
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores karmic causality: harmful or sinful actions can lead to painful consequences and lower rebirths, illustrating how ignorance (mūḍhatā) keeps a being bound to suffering across lives.
Yudhiṣṭhira addresses a king and describes a sequence of rebirths: a being is born as a boar that dies immediately from disease, and then—due to the same prior sinful karma—is reborn as a dog, emphasizing the continuity of karmic results.