Shloka 216
Ahiṃsā as Threefold Restraint (Mind–Speech–Action) and the Ethics of Consumption
बुद्धिरात्मा च सहिता धर्म पश्यन्ति नित्यदा | बृहस्पतिजीने कहा--धर्मराज! पृथ्वी, जल, अग्नि, वायु, आकाश, मन, यम, बुद्धि और आत्मा--ये सब सदा एक साथ मनुष्यके धर्मपर दृष्टि रखते हैं
buddhir ātmā ca sahitā dharma paśyanti nityadā |
Sinabi ni Yudhiṣṭhira: “Ang talino at ang Sarili (Ātman), na nagkakaisa, ay walang humpay na tumitingin sa dharma ng tao.” Sa kalakip na aral, ipinaliwanag ni Bṛhaspati kay Dharmarāja na ang mga sangkap at panloob na kakayahan—lupa, tubig, apoy, hangin, kalawakan, isip, Yama, talino, at ang Sarili—ay mga palagiang saksi, laging nagmamasid sa asal ng tao ayon sa katuwiran.
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma is never private: one’s own intellect and inner Self, along with cosmic and moral forces, continually witness conduct. This frames ethical life as accountability before both inner conscience and universal order.
In Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction on righteous living, Yudhiṣṭhira speaks, and the discourse (attributed here to Bṛhaspati) emphasizes that the elements and inner faculties—culminating in buddhi and ātman—observe human actions, urging steadfast adherence to dharma.