Shloka 26

कालनिर्देशः शोकनिवारणं च

Instruction on Kāla and the Removal of Grief

Devanagari script

नावर्तते व्रतं स्वप्ने शुक्रमोक्षे कथंचन । आज्यहोम: समिद्धे्ग्नौ प्रायक्षित्तं विधीयते

Transliteration

na āvartate vrataṁ svapne śukramokṣe kathaṁcana | ājyahomaḥ samiddhe 'gnau prāyaścittaṁ vidhīyate ||

Translation

স্বপ্নে যদি কোনো কারণে বীর্যস্খলন ঘটে, তবে তাতে ব্রহ্মচর্যব্রত কোনোভাবেই ভঙ্গ হয় না; এবং পুনরায় ব্রত গ্রহণ বা উপনয়ন-সংস্কার করারও প্রয়োজন নেই। এর জন্য প্রায়শ্চিত্ত বিধান করা হয়েছে—প্রজ্বলিত অগ্নিতে ঘৃতাহুতি প্রদান।

Word by Word

• {'na': 'not', 'āvartate': 'returns

• is undertaken again', 'vratam': 'vow

• religious observance (here, brahmacarya discipline)', 'svapne': 'in a dream', 'śukra': 'semen

• generative fluid', 'mokṣe': 'in the release/emission', 'kathaṁcana': 'in any way

• at all', 'ājyahomaḥ': 'ghee-offering

• oblation of clarified butter', 'samiddhe': 'kindled

• well-lit', 'agnau': 'in the fire', 'prāyaścittam': 'expiation

• atonement rite', 'vidhīyate': 'is prescribed

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vyāsa
• Agni (sacrificial fire)
• Ājya (ghee)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

An involuntary nocturnal emission occurring in a dream does not invalidate the brahmacarya vow; instead of restarting the vow or repeating initiation, a specific, limited expiation—offering ghee into a kindled fire—is prescribed.

What is happening in the narrative?

In a dharma-instruction context within Śānti Parva, Vyāsa clarifies a rule of conduct for students/ascetics: how to understand and ritually address an unintentional bodily event without treating it as a moral breach requiring re-initiation.