Shloka 40
Ahiṃsā as Threefold Restraint (Mind–Speech–Action) and the Ethics of Consumption
अधर्मेण समायुक्तो यमस्य विषयं गत: । महद् दुःखं समासाद्य तिर्यग्योनौ प्रजायते,अधर्मपरायण मनुष्य यमलोकमें जाता है और वहाँ महान् दुःख भोगकर यहाँ पशु- पक्षियोंकी योनिमें जन्म लेता है
adharmeṇa samāyukto yamasya viṣayaṃ gataḥ | mahad duḥkhaṃ samāsādya tiryagyonau prajāyate ||
Yudhiṣṭhira disse: “Aquele que se associa ao adharma entra no domínio de Yama. Depois de sofrer ali grande dor, nasce novamente aqui em um ventre de animal ou de ave.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Adharma leads to painful consequences: the wrongdoer falls under Yama’s judgment, suffers in Yama’s realm, and then takes a lower rebirth (tiryag-yoni). The verse stresses moral causality—conduct shapes post-mortem experience and future birth.
In the Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction on dharma, Yudhiṣṭhira speaks about the fate of those devoted to adharma, describing a sequence of punishment in Yama’s domain followed by rebirth among animals/birds.