Shloka 11
Ahiṃsā as Threefold Restraint (Mind–Speech–Action) and the Ethics of Consumption
गच्छन्त्यमुत्र लोक॑ वै क एनमनुगच्छति । युधिष्ठिरने पूछा--भगवन्! आप सम्पूर्ण धर्मोके ज्ञाता और सब शास्त्रोंके विद्वान हैं; अतः बताइये
Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca: Gacchanty amutra lokaṃ vai ka enam anugacchati? Pitā mātā putro guruḥ sajātīya-sambandhī mitrādayaś ca—eteṣāṃ madhye manuṣyasya satyaḥ sahāyakaḥ kaḥ? Yadā sarve mṛtaṃ śarīraṃ kāṣṭha-loṣṭra-samam utsṛjya gacchanti, tadā asya jīvasya saha paraloke kaḥ gacchati? Bṛhaspatir uvāca: Ekaḥ prasūyate rājann eka eva vinaśyati.
尤提希提罗问道：“当人前往彼世时，究竟是谁随他而去？在父亲、母亲、儿子、师长、同族亲眷与朋友之中，谁才是人的真实助伴？因为众人都将死去的身体弃如木段土块而离去，那么这生灵去往来世时，谁与之同行？”布里哈斯帕提答道：“大王啊，人独自出生，也独自走向终末。”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage stresses existential aloneness at birth and death: social relations cannot literally accompany one beyond death. The implied ethical lesson is that one’s true ‘companion’ is one’s own conduct—especially dharma and karma—since these shape one’s fate in the next world, not external attachments.
Yudhiṣṭhira questions Bṛhaspati about who truly helps a person after death, noting that even close relatives abandon the corpse. Bṛhaspati answers with a stark maxim: a person is born alone and dies alone, redirecting attention from worldly dependence to inner responsibility and righteous action.