Shloka 1
Adhyāya 119: Vyāsa–Kīṭa-saṃvāda
Tapas-bala and karmic ascent across yoni
(दाक्षिणात्य अधिक पाठके २ श्लोक मिलाकर कुल २१ श्लोक हैं) अपन बक। ] अति्शशाएड पञ्चदशाधिकशततमो< ध्याय: मद्य और मांसके भक्षणमें महान् दोष
Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | ahiṃsā paramo dharma ity uktaṃ bahuśas tvayā | jāto naḥ saṃśayo dharme māṃsasya parivarjane | doṣo bhakṣayataḥ kaḥ syāt kaś cābhakṣayato guṇaḥ ||
Yudhiṣṭhira disse: “Muitas vezes declaraste que a não-violência é o dharma supremo. Por isso, surgiu em minha mente uma dúvida acerca do dharma de abster-se de carne. Dize-me: que falta recai sobre quem come carne, e que mérito pertence a quem não a come?”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames an ethical inquiry: if non-violence is the highest dharma, then abstaining from meat becomes morally significant. Yudhiṣṭhira asks for a clear accounting of the demerit in eating meat and the merit in refraining, setting up a dharma-based evaluation of diet and harm.
In the Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction section, Yudhiṣṭhira questions the elder teacher (implicitly Bhīṣma) after hearing repeated praise of ahiṃsā. He requests a reasoned explanation about meat consumption versus abstention, initiating a discourse on the faults of meat-eating and the benefits of renouncing it.