Shloka 53
Ahiṃsā as Threefold Restraint (Mind–Speech–Action) and the Ethics of Consumption
प्राक् श्वा भवति राजेन्द्र तत: क्रव्यात्तत: खर: । ततः प्रेत: परिक्लिष्ट: पश्चाज्जायति ब्राह्मण:
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | prāk śvā bhavati rājendra tataḥ kravyāttataḥ kharaḥ | tataḥ pretaḥ parikliṣṭaḥ paścāj jāyati brāhmaṇaḥ ||
Yudhiṣṭhira berkata: “Wahai raja segala raja, mula-mula dia menjadi anjing; kemudian menjadi makhluk pemakan daging (rākṣasa); kemudian menjadi keldai. Sesudah itu, setelah mati dan sebagai preta yang terseksa menanggung banyak penderitaan, barulah dia lahir semula dalam keturunan brāhmaṇa.” Rangkap ini menegaskan beratnya kesalahan murid yang bodoh terhadap gurunya, dengan menggambarkan turutan kelahiran yang hina serta sengsara selepas mati sebelum kembali kepada kelahiran manusia (brāhmaṇa).
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that disrespecting or harming one’s teacher (guru-aparādha) is a grave ethical violation with severe karmic consequences, leading to degrading births and suffering in the preta state before eventual return to human birth.
Yudhiṣṭhira addresses a king (likely Bhīṣma’s interlocutor contextually) and states a karmic sequence: a foolish disciple who offends his teacher is reborn successively as a dog, then a flesh-eating being, then a donkey; after death he suffers as a preta, and only afterward attains birth as a brāhmaṇa.