Shloka 83
Ahiṃsā as Threefold Restraint (Mind–Speech–Action) and the Ethics of Consumption
पूर्व दत्त्वा तु यः कन्यां द्वितीये दातुमिच्छति । सो<पि राजन् मृतो जन्तुः कृमियोनौ प्रजायते
pūrvaṃ dattvā tu yaḥ kanyāṃ dvitīye dātum icchati | so 'pi rājan mṛto jantuḥ kṛmiyonau prajāyate ||
युधिष्ठिर उवाच—राजन्! यः पूर्वं कन्यां दत्त्वा द्वितीयाय दातुमिच्छति, सोऽपि मृतः प्राणी कृमियोनौ प्रजायते॥
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse warns that violating the integrity of a maiden’s marriage arrangement—by attempting to ‘give’ the same girl again to another man after already giving her—constitutes a serious breach of dharma, bringing severe karmic consequences (symbolized by rebirth in a low form such as worms).
In the Anuśāsana Parva’s instructional discourse on dharma, Yudhiṣṭhira addresses a king and cites a moral rule concerning marriage conduct, emphasizing the gravity of reassigning a bride after an initial giving.