Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 466
Vānaprastha-dharma and Tapas: Śiva–Umā Saṃvāda
Forest-Stage Discipline and Austerity
किल्बिषं सुबह प्राप्ता: किंस्विदेषां प्रतिक्रिया । “देवराज! मनुष्य मोहवश जो तिर्यग्योनिमें पड़े हुए प्राणियों
kilbiṣaṃ subah prāptāḥ kiṃ svid eṣāṃ pratikriyā | “devarāja! manuṣyā mohavaśaḥ yo tiryagyoni-meṃ paṛe hue prāṇiyoṃ, mṛga, pakṣī aur bheṛ-ādiko tathā kīṛoṃ, cīṃṭe-cīṃṭiyoṃ evaṃ sarpoṃ kī hiṃsā karate haiṃ, isase ve bahut-sā pāpa baṭor lete haiṃ | unake liye in pāpoṃ se chūṭane kā kyā upāya hai?”
神圣的使者说道：“他们已招致深重罪业——可有何种对治之法？噢，诸神之王！世人因迷妄而加害于胎生之众——走兽、飞禽、羊类及其同类——又复残害虫豸、蚁群与蛇类；由此积聚无量恶业。凭何方法，方能使他们脱离这些罪过？”
देवदूत उवाच
Educational Q&A
Harming any living being—whether large animals, birds, or even small creatures like insects and ants—creates serious moral demerit; the passage frames this as a dharmic problem and asks for a prescribed remedy (prāyaścitta/upāya) to be freed from such sin.
A divine messenger addresses Indra, describing how humans, overcome by delusion, commit violence against many kinds of creatures and thereby accumulate great sin, and then asks Indra what countermeasure or expiation can remove those sins.