Shloka 52
Prāyaścitta for Mahāpātakas: Liquor, Theft, Sexual Transgression, Contact with the Fallen, and Homicide
अभ्रीं कार्ष्णायसीं दद्यात् सर्पं हत्वा द्विजोत्तमः / पलालभारं षण्डं च सैसकं चैकमाषकम्
abhrīṃ kārṣṇāyasīṃ dadyāt sarpaṃ hatvā dvijottamaḥ / palālabhāraṃ ṣaṇḍaṃ ca saisakaṃ caikamāṣakam
Nachdem er eine Schlange getötet hat, sollte ein vortrefflicher Brāhmaṇa eine eiserne Hacke zusammen mit einer Ladung Stroh, einem Stier und Blei im Gewicht eines Māṣaka als Almosen geben.
Purāṇic narrator (instructional dharma passage on prāyaścitta)
Primary Rasa: karuna
Secondary Rasa: shanta
FAQs
This verse is primarily dharma-śāstric (prāyaścitta) rather than metaphysical; it teaches ethical accountability for harm (hiṃsā) through corrective giving (dāna), which supports inner purification conducive to Self-knowledge.
No direct yoga technique is stated; the implied discipline is moral purification through prāyaścitta—reducing guilt and agitation (citta-kṣobha) so that later śaiva-vaiṣṇava contemplative practices can be undertaken with steadiness.
The verse does not explicitly mention Śiva or Viṣṇu; it reflects the Purāṇic synthesis indirectly by grounding spiritual life in dharma (non-harm and expiation), a shared ethical foundation across Śaiva and Vaiṣṇava paths in the Kūrma tradition.