Shloka 57
कर्णनिधनवृत्तान्तनिवेदनम् | Reporting Karṇa’s Fall to Yudhiṣṭhira
यत् स्यादहिंसासंयुक्त स धर्म इति निश्चय: । अहिंसार्थाय भूतानां धर्मप्रवचनं कृतम्
yat syād ahiṃsā-saṃyuktaṃ sa dharma iti niścayaḥ | ahiṃsārthāya bhūtānāṃ dharma-pravacanaṃ kṛtam |
வாயுதேவன் கூறினார்: இது உறுதியான முடிவு—அஹிம்சையோடு இணைந்ததே தர்மம். உயிர்களின் பாதுகாப்பிற்காக, அஹிம்சையின் பொருட்டே மகரிஷிகள் தர்மத்தை உயர்வாகப் போதித்தனர்.
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma is decisively characterized by ahiṃsā: an action or way of life counts as truly dharmic insofar as it is aligned with non-injury. The verse frames ahiṃsā not as optional virtue but as the purpose behind the sages’ instruction of Dharma—protecting living beings.
In Karṇa Parva, amid the war’s moral tensions, Vāyu-deva articulates a principled criterion for Dharma. The statement functions as ethical guidance: even in a context dominated by violence, the tradition’s highest teaching is presented as oriented toward the prevention of harm to beings.