Shloka 3
Ahiṃsā as Threefold Restraint (Mind–Speech–Action) and the Ethics of Consumption
मृतं शरीरमुत्सज्य काष्ठलोष्टसमं जना: । प्रयान्त्यमुं लोकमित: को वै ताननुगच्छति,लोग अपने मृत शरीरको काठ और मिट्टीके ढेलेके समान छोड़कर जब यहाँसे परलोककी राह लेते हैं, उस समय उनके पीछे कौन जाता है?
mṛtaṃ śarīram utsṛjya kāṣṭhaloṣṭasamaṃ janāḥ | prayānty amuṃ lokam itaḥ ko vai tān anugacchati ||
Yudhiṣṭhira thưa: “Khi con người rũ bỏ thân xác đã chết—coi nó như khúc gỗ hay cục đất—rồi rời cõi này đi về cõi sau, rốt cuộc ai là kẻ theo họ?”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the separation between the person’s onward journey and the discarded physical body. It prompts reflection on what truly accompanies one after death—implying that the body is left behind, while one’s karmic and ethical legacy (dharma/adharma, deeds, and their results) is what meaningfully ‘follows’ or determines the next state.
Yudhiṣṭhira raises a probing question in a dharma-discourse context: observing that the corpse is abandoned as worthless matter, he asks who actually goes with the departed to the next world. The question sets up instruction about the soul’s journey and the primacy of conduct and karma over bodily identity.