Shloka 10
Ahiṃsā as Threefold Restraint (Mind–Speech–Action) and the Ethics of Consumption
ज्ञातिसम्बन्धिवर्गक्ष मित्रवर्गस्तथैव च । मृतं शरीरमुत्सज्य काष्ठलोष्टसमं जना:
jñātisambandhivargakṣa mitravargas tathaiva ca | mṛtaṃ śarīram utsajya kāṣṭhaloṣṭasamaṃ janāḥ ||
ユディシュティラは言った。「親族・縁者の群れを守り、また友の輪をも守る御方よ——身が死ねば、人々はその亡骸を捨て去り、ただの木片や土塊と同じものとして扱います。」
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores impermanence and the limited value of the physical body after death: even close relatives and friends ultimately leave the corpse behind, treating it as inert matter. Ethically, it urges detachment from mere bodily identity and a clearer focus on dharma and the enduring consequences of one’s actions.
Yudhiṣṭhira is speaking within a dharma-discourse context in the Anuśāsana Parva, reflecting on death and human conduct. He points out a stark social reality—after death, the body is abandoned—using it to support a moral argument about right understanding, restraint, and non-attachment.