Shloka 24
Kīṭopākhyāna: Prajā-pālana as Kṣatra-vrata and the Attainment of Brāhmaṇya
ये भक्षयन्ति मांसानि भूतानां जीवितैषिणाम् । भक्ष्यन्ते तेडपि भूतैस्तैरिति मे नास्ति संशय:
ye bhakṣayanti māṁsāni bhūtānāṁ jīvitaiṣiṇām | bhakṣyante te 'pi bhūtais tair iti me nāsti saṁśayaḥ ||
بھیشم نے کہا— جو لوگ جینے کی خواہش رکھنے والے جانداروں کا گوشت کھاتے ہیں، وہ دوسرے جنم میں انہی جانداروں کے ہاتھوں کھائے جاتے ہیں— اس میں مجھے کوئی شک نہیں۔
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma teaches a karmic principle of moral reciprocity: harming life for food—specifically eating the flesh of beings that wish to live—creates a corresponding consequence, where the eater becomes the eaten in a future birth. The verse supports an ethic of restraint and non-violence (ahiṁsā).
In Anushasana Parva, Bhishma instructs Yudhishthira on dharma and right conduct. Here he delivers a firm admonition about the ethical and karmic repercussions of consuming meat, presenting it as a clear, doubtless rule within his moral teaching.