Shloka 71
Adhyāya 119: Vyāsa–Kīṭa-saṃvāda
Tapas-bala and karmic ascent across yoni
इमं धर्मममांसादं यश्चरेच्छावयीत वा । अपि चेत् सुदुराचारो न जातु निरयं व्रजेत्
imaṃ dharmam amāṃsādaṃ yaś carec chāvayīta vā | api cet sudurācāro na jātu nirayaṃ vrajet ||
Wika ni Bhīṣma: “Sinumang nagsasagawa ng dharmang ito ng pag-iwas sa pagkain ng karne, o kahit yaong nagiging dahilan upang ito’y maituro at marinig ng iba, ay hindi kailanman mahuhulog sa impiyerno—kahit pa siya’y dating may lubhang masamang asal. Ang gayong pagpipigil at ang pagpapalaganap nito ay itinatag dito bilang isang makapangyarihang paglilinis ng asal at budhi.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Abstaining from meat (amāṃsāda) is presented as a highly meritorious ethical discipline; practicing it—or promoting it so others hear and adopt it—has such purifying force that it is said to prevent a fall into hell even for someone otherwise very immoral.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma is instructing Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma. Here he emphasizes a specific moral observance—renouncing meat—and underscores both personal practice and the merit of teaching it to others.