Shloka 42
Prāyaścitta-vidhāna: Tapas, Dāna, Vrata, and Proportional Expiation (प्रायश्चित्तविधानम्)
कपाले यद्वदाप: स्यु: श्वद्तौ च यथा पय: । आश्रयस्थानदोषेण वृत्तहीने तथा श्रुतम्
kapāle yadvad āpaḥ syuḥ śvattau ca yathā payaḥ | āśrayasthānadoṣeṇa vṛttahīne tathā śrutam ||
যেনেকৈ মানুহৰ কপালত ৰখা পানী আৰু কুকুৰৰ ছালত ৰখা গাখীৰ—আশ্ৰয়ৰ দোষত অপবিত্ৰ হয়, তেনেকৈ সদাচাৰহীন ব্ৰাহ্মণৰ শাস্ত্ৰশ্ৰৱণ আৰু শাস্ত্ৰজ্ঞানো আশ্ৰয়স্থানৰ দোষত কলুষিত হয়।
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Sacred knowledge gains authority and purity only when grounded in right conduct; when the moral ‘container’ is impure, learning itself becomes ethically compromised and socially untrustworthy.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma, Vyāsa uses vivid purity metaphors—water in a skull and milk in a dog’s hide—to warn that scriptural learning in a person lacking good conduct is corrupted by the defect of its bearer.