Ahiṃsā as Threefold Restraint (Mind–Speech–Action) and the Ethics of Consumption
स्त्रियं हत्वा तु दुर्बद्धिर्यमस्य विषयं गत: । बहून् क्लेशान् समासाद्य संसारांश्चैव विंशतिम्
striyaṁ hatvā tu durbuddhir yamasya viṣayaṁ gataḥ | bahūn kleśān samāsādya saṁsārāṁś caiva viṁśatim ||
جو کج فہم آدمی کسی عورت کو قتل کرتا ہے وہ یم کے دائرۂ اقتدار میں جا پڑتا ہے۔ وہاں طرح طرح کی اذیتیں بھگتنے کے بعد وہ غم آلود یونیوں میں بیس بار بار جنم لیتا ہے۔
युधिछिर उवाच
The verse asserts a strong dharmic prohibition against harming women: killing a woman is portrayed as a grave adharma that leads to post-mortem punishment in Yama’s realm and repeated painful rebirths, emphasizing karmic accountability and social-ethical restraint.
In the Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction on dharma, Yudhiṣṭhira speaks a warning statement: he describes the fate of a wrong-minded person who commits the act of killing a woman—first suffering in Yama’s jurisdiction and then undergoing multiple sorrowful rebirths.