Shloka 28
Ahiṃsā as Threefold Restraint (Mind–Speech–Action) and the Ethics of Consumption
ब॒हस्पतिरुवाच अन्नमश्नन्ति यद् देवा: शरीरस्था नरेश्वर । पृथिवी वायुराकाशमापो ज्योतिर्मनस्तथा
bṛhaspatir uvāca | annam aśnanti yad devāḥ śarīrasthā nareśvara | pṛthivī vāyur ākāśam āpo jyotir manas tathā |
بِرہسپتی نے کہا—اے نریشور! اس جسم کے اندر جو دیوتا زمین، پانی، اَنّ (غذا)، ہوا، آکاش، تَیج (نور) اور من (ذہن) کے اَدھِشٹھاتا ہیں، وہ کھایا ہوا اَنّ قبول کرتے ہیں۔ جب اسی غذا سے من سمیت اندرونی عناصر پوری طرح سیر ہو جائیں، تب عظیم ریتس (منی/قوتِ تولید) پیدا ہوتی ہے۔
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Food is not merely physical intake; it is an offering that sustains the presiding powers of the elements within the body. When nourishment is proper and balanced, the elements and mind become satisfied, producing vitality and generative potency—implying that ethical living includes disciplined, wholesome eating and restraint.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bṛhaspati instructs the king (addressed as nareśvara) on inner physiology and dharma: he explains how the body’s elemental deities ‘consume’ the food eaten, and how their satisfaction leads to the arising of retas (vital generative essence).