Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 1063
Ahiṃsā as Threefold Restraint (Mind–Speech–Action) and the Ethics of Consumption
क्षौमं च वस्त्रमादाय शशो जन्तु: प्रजायते । सूती वस्त्रकी चोरी करके मरा हुआ मनुष्य क्रौंच पक्षीकी योनिमें जन्म लेता है। भारत! पाटम्बर
kṣaumaṃ ca vastram ādāya śaśo jantuḥ prajāyate |
Sinabi ni Yudhiṣṭhira: “Ang kumuha (magnakaw) ng kasuotang kṣauma ay muling isisilang bilang nilalang na tulad ng kuneho.” Ipinapakita ng talatang ito ang aral na ang pagnanakaw—lalo na ng mahahalagang pag-aari ng iba gaya ng damit—ay may bungang karma, na inihahayag dito bilang isang mababang muling pagsilang.
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The core teaching is that theft (especially of necessities like clothing) violates dharma and results in karmic retribution, here symbolized by rebirth into a lower animal form (hare).
Within Anuśāsana Parva’s dharma-instructions, Yudhiṣṭhira states a specific karmic consequence: stealing a kṣauma garment leads to rebirth as a hare-like creature, illustrating moral causality through concrete examples.