Shloka 19
Adhyāya 119: Vyāsa–Kīṭa-saṃvāda
Tapas-bala and karmic ascent across yoni
एवं वै परम धर्म प्रशंसन्ति मनीषिण: । प्राणा यथा55त्मनो5भीष्टा भूतानामपि वै तथा
evaṁ vai parama-dharmaṁ praśaṁsanti manīṣiṇaḥ | prāṇā yathā ātmano ’bhīṣṭā bhūtānām api vai tathā ||
भीष्म म्हणाले—अशा प्रकारे मनीषीजन अहिंसारूप परम धर्माची प्रशंसा करतात. जसे मनुष्याला आपले प्राण प्रिय असतात, तसेच सर्व प्राण्यांनाही आपापले प्राण प्रिय असतात।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Ahimsa (non-violence) is praised as the supreme dharma because every being values its own life as dearly as we value ours; ethical conduct begins with recognizing this shared attachment to life.
In the Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhīṣma continues advising on righteous conduct, grounding the ideal of non-harm in a universal psychological fact: all creatures cherish their own prāṇa (life).