Shloka 5
Puruṣaikatva-vyākhyāna: The One Virāṭ Puruṣa and the Many ‘Puruṣas’
Rudra–Brahmā Saṃvāda
नैष धर्म: सतां देवा यत्र वध्येत वै पशु: । इदं कृतयुगं श्रेष्ठ कथं वध्येत वै पशु:
naiṣa dharmaḥ satāṁ devā yatra vadhyeta vai paśuḥ | idaṁ kṛtayugaṁ śreṣṭha kathaṁ vadhyeta vai paśuḥ ||
भीष्म उवाच—नैष धर्मः सतां देवा यत्र वध्येत वै पशुः। इदं कृतयुगं श्रेष्ठं कथं वध्येत वै पशुः॥
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma asserts that true dharma for the virtuous does not permit the killing of animals, especially when the moral order is envisioned as the pure Kṛta Yuga; the verse foregrounds ahiṃsā and critiques violence justified as religious practice.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhīṣma addresses the devas (and/or an exalted listener) to reject a practice involving animal killing, invoking the ideal of Kṛta Yuga to argue that such violence is incompatible with the highest ethical order.