Shloka 113
Ahiṃsā as Threefold Restraint (Mind–Speech–Action) and the Ethics of Consumption
एकस्तरति दुर्गाणि गच्छत्येकस्तु दुर्गतिम् । बृहस्पतिजीने कहा--राजन्! प्राणी अकेला ही जन्म लेता
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca |
ekas tarati durgāṇi gacchaty ekas tu durgatim |
yaḥ nīcaḥ puruṣo dhana-lobhena vā śatrutā-kāraṇād vā śastraṃ gṛhītvā nihataṃ (aśastraṃ) puruṣaṃ hanti sa mṛtyor anantaram gardabha-yoniṃ prāpnoti ||
kharo jīvati varṣe dve tataḥ śastreṇa vadhyate |
sa mṛto mṛga-yoniṃ tu nityodvignaḥ punar jāyate ||
ຢຸດທິສຖິຣະ ກ່າວວ່າ: «ຄົນເຮົາຜ່ານທາງລຳບາກກໍຜ່ານຜູ້ດຽວ, ແລະຕົກສູ່ຄວາມພິນາດກໍຕົກຜູ້ດຽວ. ສັດມີຊີວິດເກີດມາຜູ້ດຽວ, ຕາຍກໍຜູ້ດຽວ, ຜ່ານພົ້ນທຸກຂ໌ກໍຜູ້ດຽວ, ແລະຊິມລົດແຫ່ງຄວາມອັບປະຍົດກໍຜູ້ດຽວ. ດັ່ງນັ້ນ ຄົນຕໍ່າຊ້າທີ່ເພາະໂລບທອງຄຳ ຫຼືເພາະຄວາມເປັນສັດຕູ ຈຶ່ງຖືອາວຸດໄປຂ້າຄົນບໍ່ມີອາວຸດ—ເມື່ອຕາຍໄປ ຈະເກີດໃໝ່ເປັນລາ. ເປັນລາຢູ່ໄດ້ສອງປີ ແລ້ວຖືກຂ້າດ້ວຍອາວຸດ; ຕາຍແລ້ວເກີດໃໝ່ໃນຝູງກວາງ ແລະຢູ່ດ້ວຍຄວາມຫວາດຫວັນບໍ່ຂາດ ຢ້ານນັກລ່າສັດຢູ່ເທື່ອ».
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Moral responsibility is personal and inescapable: one faces the fruits of one’s actions alone. Specifically, violence driven by greed or enmity—especially killing an unarmed person—leads to degrading rebirths and a life marked by fear and suffering.
In Anuśāsana Parva’s ethical instruction, Yudhiṣṭhira articulates (with a traditional attribution to Bṛhaspati in the accompanying gloss) a karmic warning: the killer of an unarmed man is reborn first as a donkey, then after being slain, as a deer-like creature, living constantly terrified of hunters.