Shloka 9
असंतोषादिदोष-निरूपणम्
On the Faults of Discontent and the Discipline of Detachment
एकोदरकृते व्यात्र: करोति विघसं बहु । तमन्येडप्युपजीवन्ति मन्दा लोभवशा मृगा:,बाघ एक ही पेटके लिये बहुत-से प्राणियोंकी हिंसा करता है, दूसरे लोभी और मूर्ख पशु भी उसीके सहारे जीवन-निर्वाह करते हैं
ekodarākṛte vyāghraḥ karoti vighasaṃ bahu | tam anye 'py upajīvanti mandā lobhavaśā mṛgāḥ ||
Yudhiṣṭhira berkata: “Demi perutnya sendiri semata-mata, seekor harimau melakukan pembunuhan yang banyak. Namun haiwan-haiwan lain—tumpul akal dan didorong oleh ketamakan—turut menyara hidup dengan bergantung pada sisa yang ditinggalkannya.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse criticizes greed-driven dependence on wrongdoing: one agent commits violence for selfish ends, and others—lacking discernment—choose to profit from the aftermath, becoming ethically implicated through opportunistic reliance.
In the Śānti Parva’s moral discourse, Yudhiṣṭhira uses a natural image: a tiger kills for its own hunger, and other animals gather to live off the remains. The example functions as an ethical analogy about society’s tendency to survive on the byproducts of another’s harmful acts.