Shloka 117
Ahiṃsā as Threefold Restraint (Mind–Speech–Action) and the Ethics of Consumption
स्त्रियं हत्वा तु दुर्बद्धिर्यमस्य विषयं गत: । बहून् क्लेशान् समासाद्य संसारांश्चैव विंशतिम्
striyaṁ hatvā tu durbuddhir yamasya viṣayaṁ gataḥ | bahūn kleśān samāsādya saṁsārāṁś caiva viṁśatim ||
Yudhiṣṭhira disse: “O homem de entendimento pervertido que mata uma mulher vai ao domínio de Yama. Depois de sofrer ali muitos tormentos, renasce repetidas vezes—vinte vezes—em estados de existência carregados de dor.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse asserts a strong dharmic prohibition against harming women: killing a woman is portrayed as a grave adharma that leads to post-mortem punishment in Yama’s realm and repeated painful rebirths, emphasizing karmic accountability and social-ethical restraint.
In the Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction on dharma, Yudhiṣṭhira speaks a warning statement: he describes the fate of a wrong-minded person who commits the act of killing a woman—first suffering in Yama’s jurisdiction and then undergoing multiple sorrowful rebirths.