Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 1196

Ahiṃsā as Threefold Restraint (Mind–Speech–Action) and the Ethics of Consumption

Devanagari script

ततः पापक्षयं कृत्वा मानुषत्वमवाप्तुते । भोजनकी चोरी करके मनुष्य मक्खी होता है और कई महीनोंतक मक्खियोंके समुदायके अधीन रहता है। तत्पश्चात्‌ पापोंका भोग समाप्त करके वह पुनः मनुष्य-योनिमें जन्म लेता है

Transliteration

tataḥ pāpakṣayaṁ kṛtvā mānuṣatvam avāpnute |

Translation

“其后，当罪业余报受尽，便再得人身。盗取食物者将化为苍蝇，并在数月之间受制于蝇群；待罪果受毕，又复投生为人。”

Word by Word

• ततः: then, thereafter
• ततः: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः (तद्-प्रातिपदिकात् अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय

• पापक्षयम्: destruction/ending of sin
• पापक्षयम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: पापक्षय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• कृत्वा: having done, after doing
• कृत्वा: Karana
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त अव्यय (gerund), परस्मैपदी-प्रयोग

• मानुषत्वम्: human state, humanity
• मानुषत्वम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: मानुषत्व (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• अवाप्तुते: attains, obtains
• अवाप्तुते: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: अवाप् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (वर्तमान), आत्मनेपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yudhiṣṭhira

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Actions generate karmic results: wrongdoing leads to suffering and lower states, but once the demerit is fully exhausted (pāpakṣaya), the soul can regain human birth, where ethical responsibility and the possibility of reform return.

What is happening in the narrative?

In a discussion on dharma and the fruits of sin, Yudhiṣṭhira’s line summarizes the conclusion of a karmic sequence: after undergoing the consequences of one’s misdeeds, the being’s sinful residue is spent and it is reborn as a human again.