Shloka 5
Dvaipāyana–Kīṭa Saṃvāda: Karmic Memory, Fear of Death, and Embodied Pleasure
यथा सर्वश्षतुष्पाद वै त्रिभि: पादैर्न तिष्ठति । तथैवेयं महीपाल कारणै: प्रोच्यते त्रिभि:
yathā sarvaś catuṣpād vai tribhiḥ pādair na tiṣṭhati | tathaiveyaṃ mahīpāla kāraṇaiḥ procyate tribhiḥ ||
Bhīṣma berkata: “Wahai raja, sebagaimana makhluk berkaki empat tak dapat berdiri tegak hanya pada tiga kaki, demikian pula ahiṃsā yang ditegakkan atau dijelaskan hanya dengan tiga landasan tidak dapat disebut ahiṃsā yang sempurna.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Ahiṃsā (non-violence) is not truly complete if it is upheld or justified by only a partial set of reasons or supports; like a four-footed animal needing all four legs to stand, non-violence must rest on a full foundation to be called genuine.
Bhishma is instructing the king (Yudhishthira) in ethical and dharmic principles. He uses a simple analogy—an animal cannot stand on three legs—to emphasize that a moral principle like ahiṃsā cannot be considered fully established when supported by only three factors.