Shloka 37
Adhyāya 119: Vyāsa–Kīṭa-saṃvāda
Tapas-bala and karmic ascent across yoni
यो हि खादति मांसानि प्राणिनां जीवितैषिणाम् । हतानां वा मृतानां वा यथा हन्ता तथैव सः:
yo hi khādati māṁsāni prāṇināṁ jīvitaiṣiṇām | hatānāṁ vā mṛtānāṁ vā yathā hantā tathaiva saḥ ||
Bhīṣma disse: “Quem come a carne de seres que desejam viver—seja após matá-los, seja mesmo quando morreram por si—deve ser considerado assassino do mesmo modo.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that moral responsibility for violence extends beyond the physical act of killing: consuming meat makes one complicit in the harm to living beings, so the eater is ethically treated as a killer.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and right conduct. Here he addresses the ethics of meat-eating, asserting that eating flesh—whether from animals one kills or animals found dead—still carries the stigma and consequence of killing.