Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 57
Ahiṃsā as Threefold Restraint (Mind–Speech–Action) and the Ethics of Consumption
यदि पुत्रसमं शिष्य॑ गुरुहन्यादकारणे । आत्मन: कामकारेण सोऊपि हिंस्र: प्रजायते
yadi putrasamaṁ śiṣyaṁ gurur hanyād akāraṇe | ātmanaḥ kāmakāreṇa so 'pi hiṁsraḥ prajāyate ||
Wika ni Yudhiṣṭhira: Kung ang isang guro, dahil sa sariling kapritso at pagnanasa, ay pumatay sa isang alagad na parang anak, at walang makatarungang dahilan, ang gurong iyon man ay nagiging marahas na tao. Hindi pinababanal ng kapangyarihan ang kalupitan: kahit ang guru ay nagkakamit ng sala kapag kumikilos mula sa pansariling pita at hindi ayon sa dharma.
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even a guru is not above dharma: killing a disciple without just cause, out of personal desire or whim, makes the teacher culpable and morally ‘violent’. Legitimate authority cannot excuse adharma.
Yudhiṣṭhira is articulating an ethical principle within the Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction on right conduct: he frames a conditional case about a guru harming a disciple to clarify that unjustified violence—especially by one entrusted with care—corrupts the doer.