Shloka 9
Brāhmaṇa-pūjā and Namaskāra: Criteria of Reverence and Non-Offense (ब्राह्मणपूजा-नमस्कारविधिः)
ये च मांसं न खादन्ति तान् न शकनुम हिंसितुम् । जो अपने शरीरमें गोरोचन लगाता, हाथमें वच नामक औषध लिये रहता, ललाटमें घी और अक्षत धारण करता तथा मांस नहीं खाता-ऐसे मनुष्योंकी हिंसा हम नहीं कर सकते ।।
bhīṣma uvāca | ye ca māṁsaṁ na khādanti tān na śaknum hiṁsitum |
Dan mereka yang tidak memakan daging—kami tidak mampu mencelakai mereka.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dietary restraint—specifically abstaining from meat—is presented as a marker of purity and dharmic discipline that places a person beyond the legitimate or effective reach of violent harm, especially from predatory beings.
Bhishma is describing categories of people whom violent, flesh-eating night-roamers cannot (or do not) attack; in this verse he states succinctly that those who do not eat meat are not to be harmed.