Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 10
Ahiṃsā as Threefold Restraint (Mind–Speech–Action) and the Ethics of Consumption
ज्ञातिसम्बन्धिवर्गक्ष मित्रवर्गस्तथैव च । मृतं शरीरमुत्सज्य काष्ठलोष्टसमं जना:
jñātisambandhivargakṣa mitravargas tathaiva ca | mṛtaṃ śarīram utsajya kāṣṭhaloṣṭasamaṃ janāḥ ||
Wika ni Yudhiṣṭhira: “O tagapangalaga ng mga pangkat ng kamag-anak at mga kaugnay, at gayundin ng mga kaibigang kasamahan: kapag namatay na ang katawan, iniiwan ito ng mga tao, na wari’y isa lamang piraso ng kahoy o tipak ng lupa.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores impermanence and the limited value of the physical body after death: even close relatives and friends ultimately leave the corpse behind, treating it as inert matter. Ethically, it urges detachment from mere bodily identity and a clearer focus on dharma and the enduring consequences of one’s actions.
Yudhiṣṭhira is speaking within a dharma-discourse context in the Anuśāsana Parva, reflecting on death and human conduct. He points out a stark social reality—after death, the body is abandoned—using it to support a moral argument about right understanding, restraint, and non-attachment.