Shloka 42
Ahiṃsā as Threefold Restraint (Mind–Speech–Action) and the Ethics of Consumption
यदेतदुच्यते शास्त्रे सेतिहासे च च्छन्दसि । यमस्य विषयं घोर मर्त्यों लोक: प्रपद्यते
yad etad ucyate śāstre setihāse ca chandasi | yamasya viṣayaṃ ghoraṃ martyo lokaḥ prapadyate ||
ಶಾಸ್ತ್ರಗಳಲ್ಲಿ, ಇತಿಹಾಸಪರಂಪರೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮತ್ತು ವೇದಛಂದಸ್ಸಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಹೇಳಿರುವಂತೆ—ಯಮನ ಆ ಭೀಕರ ವಿಷಯಕ್ಕೆ—ಮರ್ತ್ಯಲೋಕವು ಅನಿವಾರ್ಯವಾಗಿ ಪ್ರವೇಶಿಸುತ್ತದೆ.
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the inevitability of death and post-mortem accountability: all mortals enter Yama’s fearful jurisdiction, a truth affirmed across śāstra, itihāsa, and Vedic revelation, urging ethical living grounded in dharma.
Yudhiṣṭhira, in a didactic exchange within the Anuśāsana Parva, invokes multiple sources of authority—treatises, epic tradition, and Vedic hymns—to frame a discussion about the fate of mortals and the dread realm governed by Yama.