Shloka 117
Ahiṃsā as Threefold Restraint (Mind–Speech–Action) and the Ethics of Consumption
स्त्रियं हत्वा तु दुर्बद्धिर्यमस्य विषयं गत: । बहून् क्लेशान् समासाद्य संसारांश्चैव विंशतिम्
striyaṁ hatvā tu durbuddhir yamasya viṣayaṁ gataḥ | bahūn kleśān samāsādya saṁsārāṁś caiva viṁśatim ||
บุรุษผู้มีปัญญาวิปริตซึ่งฆ่าสตรี ย่อมไปสู่แดนของพระยม ครั้นเสวยทุกข์ทรมานนานาประการแล้ว จึงต้องเกิดซ้ำถึงยี่สิบครั้งในภพภูมิอันเปี่ยมด้วยความเศร้าโศก
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse asserts a strong dharmic prohibition against harming women: killing a woman is portrayed as a grave adharma that leads to post-mortem punishment in Yama’s realm and repeated painful rebirths, emphasizing karmic accountability and social-ethical restraint.
In the Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction on dharma, Yudhiṣṭhira speaks a warning statement: he describes the fate of a wrong-minded person who commits the act of killing a woman—first suffering in Yama’s jurisdiction and then undergoing multiple sorrowful rebirths.