Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 122
Ahiṃsā as Threefold Restraint (Mind–Speech–Action) and the Ethics of Consumption
दशन् वै मानुषान्नित्यं पापात्मा स विशाम्पते । धान्यकी चोरी करनेवाले मनुष्यके शरीरमें दूसरे जन्ममें बहुत-से रोएँ पैदा होते हैं। प्रजानाथ! जो मानव तिलके चूर्णसे मिश्रित भोजनकी चोरी करता है, वह नेवलेके समान आकारवाला भयानक चूहा होता है तथा वह पापी सदा मनुष्योंको काटा करता है ।।
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | daśan vai mānuṣān nityaṃ pāpātmā sa viśāṃpate |
Sinabi ni Yudhiṣṭhira: “O panginoon ng mga tao, ang nilalang na may pusong makasalanan—sa anumang kalagayan siya isilang—ay patuloy na kumakagat sa mga tao.” Sa aral na ito (na pinalalawak sa mga kalapit na turo), inilalatag ni Yudhiṣṭhira ang doktrinang etikal na ang pagnanakaw—lalo na ng mahahalagang pagkain at pangunahing gamit sa tahanan—ay nahihinog bilang masakit at nakahihiyang muling pagsilang. Inilalarawan ang parusa sa pamamagitan ng mga sagisag na anyong-hayop: ang anyo sa hinaharap ay sumasalamin sa pinsala at palihim na likas ng gawa, at ang bunga ay hindi lamang paglibak ng lipunan kundi isang pagbabagong dulot ng karma na ginagawang walang humpay na pahirap sa sangkatauhan ang nagkasala.
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage underscores karmic moral causality: theft—especially of basic sustenance—produces severe consequences, depicted as degrading rebirths and ongoing suffering. The ethical point is that taking what sustains others violates dharma and returns as a life marked by fear, harm, and loss of human dignity.
Within Anuśāsana Parva’s didactic setting, Yudhiṣṭhira speaks to a kingly figure (‘viśāṃpati’), voicing or eliciting a rule-like statement about a sinner who continually bites humans. The surrounding exposition (as reflected in the provided gloss) elaborates this as a catalogue of thefts and their karmic rebirth-results.