Ahiṃsā as Threefold Restraint (Mind–Speech–Action) and the Ethics of Consumption
अधर्मस्य क्षयं गत्वा ततो जायति मानुष: । चोरयित्वा पयश्चापि बलाका सम्प्रजायते,फिर अधर्मका क्षय हो जानेपर वह मनुष्यका जन्म पाता है। दूध चुरानेवाली स्त्री बगुली होती है
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca |
adharmasya kṣayaṃ gatvā tato jāyati mānuṣaḥ |
corayitvā payaś cāpi balākā samprajāyate ||
Yudhiṣṭhira nói: “Khi phần dư của nghiệp bất chính đã cạn, người ấy lại được sinh làm người. Và chỉ vì tội trộm sữa, kẻ phạm cũng bị tái sinh làm balākā (chim hạc/diệc).”
युधिछिर उवाच
The verse teaches karmic causality: specific unethical actions (adharma), even seemingly minor ones like stealing milk, bear corresponding consequences in future births; when the force of accumulated adharma is exhausted, a return to human birth becomes possible.
In a didactic exchange within the Anuśāsana Parva, Yudhiṣṭhira voices a moral observation about the mechanics of karmic retribution and rebirth, illustrating it with the example that stealing milk can lead to rebirth as a balākā (crane/heron).