Shloka 82
Ahiṃsā as Threefold Restraint (Mind–Speech–Action) and the Ethics of Consumption
कृमिर्जीवति वर्षाणि दश पञ्च च भारत | अधर्मस्य क्षयं कृत्वा ततो जायति मानव:,भारत! वह कीट पंद्रह वर्षोतक जीवित रहता है। फिर पापोंका क्षय करके वह मनुष्ययोनिमें जन्म लेता है
kṛmir jīvati varṣāṇi daśa pañca ca bhārata | adharmasya kṣayaṃ kṛtvā tato jāyati mānavaḥ ||
Yudhiṣṭhira berkata: “Wahai Bhārata, seekor cacing hidup selama sepuluh tahun dan lima tahun. Sesudah itu, setelah sisa perbuatan adharma-nya habis tertebus, ia lahir kembali dalam keadaan sebagai manusia.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents a karmic-ethical principle: even a low birth such as a worm is not random but connected to prior adharma; when that negative karmic residue is exhausted (kṣaya), the being can rise again to human birth. It underscores moral causality and the possibility of upward movement through the working out of karma.
Yudhiṣṭhira addresses “Bhārata” and states a specific example from the discourse on conduct and consequences: a creature lives as a worm for fifteen years, and after the depletion of its adharma, it is reborn as a human. The line functions as an illustrative claim within the larger Anuśāsana discussion on dharma, sin, and the results of actions across births.