Shloka 32
अहिंसा-प्रधान धर्मविचारः
Ahiṃsā as the Superior Dharma: Practical and Scriptural Reasoning
सैवमुक्ता महाराज कृताज्जलिरुवाच ह । पुनरेव महात्मानं नेति देवेशमव्ययम्
saivam uktā mahārāja kṛtāñjalir uvāca ha | punar eva mahātmānaṃ neti deveśam avyayam ||
Bhīṣma nói: “Tâu Đại vương, khi đã được nói như vậy, Thần Chết chắp tay cung kính, lại thưa với Đấng bất hoại, bậc đại hồn, Chúa tể chư thiên (Brahmā): ‘Bạch Chúa thượng, không—con sẽ không thực hiện việc hủy diệt các sinh linh.’”
पितामह उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even forces associated with punishment or ending (like Death) are portrayed as bound by dharma and moral hesitation; the text highlights compassion and restraint as virtues that must be weighed alongside cosmic duty.
Death, personified as a reverent supplicant, addresses the imperishable Lord of the gods (identified in the gloss as Brahmā) and refuses—at least momentarily—to undertake the destruction of living beings, indicating a tension between ordained function and ethical reluctance.