Shloka 83
Ahiṃsā as Threefold Restraint (Mind–Speech–Action) and the Ethics of Consumption
पूर्व दत्त्वा तु यः कन्यां द्वितीये दातुमिच्छति । सो<पि राजन् मृतो जन्तुः कृमियोनौ प्रजायते,राजन्! जो पहले एक व्यक्तिको कन्यादान करके फिर दूसरेको उसी कन्याका दान करना चाहता है, वह भी मरनेके बाद कीड़ेकी योनिमें जन्म लेता है
pūrvaṃ dattvā tu yaḥ kanyāṃ dvitīye dātum icchati | so 'pi rājan mṛto jantuḥ kṛmiyonau prajāyate ||
Yudhiṣṭhira berkata: “Wahai Raja, sesiapa yang setelah terlebih dahulu mengahwinkan seorang gadis, kemudian berhasrat untuk mengahwinkan gadis yang sama kepada lelaki kedua—dia juga, setelah mati, terlahir semula dalam rahim cacing. Ini dinyatakan sebagai pelanggaran moral yang berat dalam urusan perkahwinan dan dharma sosial.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse warns that violating the integrity of a maiden’s marriage arrangement—by attempting to ‘give’ the same girl again to another man after already giving her—constitutes a serious breach of dharma, bringing severe karmic consequences (symbolized by rebirth in a low form such as worms).
In the Anuśāsana Parva’s instructional discourse on dharma, Yudhiṣṭhira addresses a king and cites a moral rule concerning marriage conduct, emphasizing the gravity of reassigning a bride after an initial giving.