Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 12

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

Devanagari script

असहाय: पिता माता तथा भ्राता सुतो गुरु:

Transliteration

asahāyaḥ pitā mātā tathā bhrātā suto guruḥ

Translation

尤狄希提罗说道：“父亲、母亲，同样还有兄弟、儿子与师长——一旦失去依靠——便会变得依赖他人，且易受伤害。”

Word by Word

• असहायः: helpless, without assistance
• असहायः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: असहाय
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• पिता: father
• पिता: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितृ
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• माता: mother
• माता: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: मातृ
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• तथा: and likewise, also
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

• भ्राता: brother
• भ्राता: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: भ्रातृ
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• सुतः: son
• सुतः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: सुत
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• गुरुः: teacher, preceptor
• गुरुः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: गुरु
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yudhiṣṭhira
• father
• mother
• brother
• son
• guru (teacher/preceptor)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights dharma as active support: even the most revered relations—parents, siblings, children, and one’s teacher—can become helpless if neglected. Ethical life therefore includes sustaining and protecting dependents, not merely honoring them in words.

What is happening in the narrative?

Yudhiṣṭhira is speaking within the Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction on righteous conduct, drawing attention to the condition of close relations and the guru when they lack assistance, as part of a broader inquiry into duties and proper care.