Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 24
Kīṭopākhyāna: Prajā-pālana as Kṣatra-vrata and the Attainment of Brāhmaṇya
ये भक्षयन्ति मांसानि भूतानां जीवितैषिणाम् । भक्ष्यन्ते तेडपि भूतैस्तैरिति मे नास्ति संशय:
ye bhakṣayanti māṁsāni bhūtānāṁ jīvitaiṣiṇām | bhakṣyante te 'pi bhūtais tair iti me nāsti saṁśayaḥ ||
भीष्म बोले— जो जीवित रहने की इच्छा रखने वाले प्राणियों का मांस खाते हैं, वे दूसरे जन्म में उन्हीं प्राणियों द्वारा भक्षण किए जाते हैं— इसमें मुझे कोई संशय नहीं।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma teaches a karmic principle of moral reciprocity: harming life for food—specifically eating the flesh of beings that wish to live—creates a corresponding consequence, where the eater becomes the eaten in a future birth. The verse supports an ethic of restraint and non-violence (ahiṁsā).
In Anushasana Parva, Bhishma instructs Yudhishthira on dharma and right conduct. Here he delivers a firm admonition about the ethical and karmic repercussions of consuming meat, presenting it as a clear, doubtless rule within his moral teaching.