Shloka 21
Adhyāya 119: Vyāsa–Kīṭa-saṃvāda
Tapas-bala and karmic ascent across yoni
कि पुनर्हन्यमानानां तरसा जीवितार्थिनाम् | अरोगाणामपापानां पापैर्मासोपजीविभि:
ki punar hanyamānānāṁ tarasā jīvitārthinām | arogāṇām apāpānāṁ pāpair māṁsopajīvibhiḥ ||
Bhishma disse: “Quanto maior, então, deve surgir o medo naqueles que são mortos à força—criaturas que anseiam viver, saudáveis e inocentes—quando são dominadas e abatidas por homens pecaminosos que vivem da carne? Por isso, o sábio e virtuoso deve considerar todos os seres iguais a si mesmo e agir pelo seu bem-estar.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma underscores empathy and non-violence: a wise person should see all beings as oneself and recognize that forcibly killing innocent, healthy creatures—especially by those who profit from flesh—is a grave ethical wrong that naturally generates fear and suffering.
In Anushasana Parva, Bhishma instructs Yudhishthira on dharma. Here he argues from the reality of death-fear: if even learned people fear death, then innocent beings who are violently killed by meat-dependent sinners will fear all the more—supporting a broader exhortation toward compassion and restraint from harm.