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Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 1063

Ahiṃsā as Threefold Restraint (Mind–Speech–Action) and the Ethics of Consumption

क्षौमं च वस्त्रमादाय शशो जन्तु: प्रजायते । सूती वस्त्रकी चोरी करके मरा हुआ मनुष्य क्रौंच पक्षीकी योनिमें जन्म लेता है। भारत! पाटम्बर

kṣaumaṃ ca vastram ādāya śaśo jantuḥ prajāyate |

ユディシュティラは言った。「kṣauma(クシャウマ)の衣を取る(盗む)者は、兎に似た生きものとして再生する。」この偈は、盗み——とりわけ他者の衣服のような生活に欠かせぬものを奪うこと——が業の報いを招き、ここでは卑しき再生として示されることを語っている。

क्षौमम्linen/silk cloth (kṣauma)
क्षौमम्:
Karma
TypeNoun
Rootक्षौम
FormNeuter, Accusative, Singular
and
:
TypeIndeclinable
Root
वस्त्रम्garment, cloth
वस्त्रम्:
Karma
TypeNoun
Rootवस्त्र
FormNeuter, Accusative, Singular
आदायhaving taken
आदाय:
TypeVerb
Rootआ + दा
Formल्यप् (absolutive/gerund), Parasmaipada (usage), non-finite
शशःhare, rabbit
शशः:
Karta
TypeNoun
Rootशश
FormMasculine, Nominative, Singular
जन्तुःcreature, being
जन्तुः:
Karta
TypeNoun
Rootजन्तु
FormMasculine, Nominative, Singular
प्रजायतेis born, comes into existence
प्रजायते:
TypeVerb
Rootप्र + जन्
Formलट्, Present, Ātmanepada, Third, Singular

युधिछिर उवाच

Y
Yudhiṣṭhira
K
kṣauma (cloth/garment)
V
vastra (garment)
Ś
śaśa (hare/rabbit)

Educational Q&A

The core teaching is that theft (especially of necessities like clothing) violates dharma and results in karmic retribution, here symbolized by rebirth into a lower animal form (hare).

Within Anuśāsana Parva’s dharma-instructions, Yudhiṣṭhira states a specific karmic consequence: stealing a kṣauma garment leads to rebirth as a hare-like creature, illustrating moral causality through concrete examples.