Ahiṃsā as Threefold Restraint (Mind–Speech–Action) and the Ethics of Consumption
एतत् त्रयमवाप्तव्यमधर्मपरिवर्जितम् | धर्म, अर्थ और काम--ये तीन जीवनके फल हैं, अतः मनुष्यको अधर्मके त्यागपूर्वक इन तीनोंको उपलब्ध करना चाहिये
etat trayam avāptavyam adharmaparivarjitam | dharma-artha-kāmāḥ trayo jīvanaphalāni, ataḥ manuṣyeṇa adharmasya tyāgapūrvakaṃ etāni trīṇi avāptavyāni ||
Yudhiṣṭhira nói: “Ba điều ấy phải đạt được, nhưng không được nương vào phi nghĩa. Dharma, artha và kāma—đó là ba quả của đời người; vì vậy, con người chỉ nên thâu đạt cả ba sau khi đã từ bỏ adharma.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Human goals—dharma (righteousness), artha (material welfare), and kāma (legitimate enjoyment)—may be pursued, but only by excluding adharma; ethical means are non-negotiable even when seeking prosperity or pleasure.
In the Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction-focused dialogue, Yudhiṣṭhira articulates a normative principle about the proper pursuit of life’s aims, emphasizing that the three goals must be sought with the prior abandonment of unrighteous conduct.