Shloka 2
अत्रेः तपोबलप्रकाशः तथा च्यवनस्य सोमाधिकारः
Atri’s Illumination by Tapas; Cyavana and Soma-Entitlement
ब्राह्मणानां विशेषेण हव्यकव्यप्रतिग्रहे । नानाविधेषु भोज्येषु प्रायश्चित्तानि शंस मे,प्राय: ब्राह्मणोंको ही हव्य और कव्यका प्रतिग्रह लेना पड़ता है और उन्हें ही नाना प्रकारके अन्न ग्रहण करनेका अवसर आता है। ऐसी दशामें उन्हें पाप लगते हैं, उनका क्या प्रायश्चित्त है? यह मुझे बतावें
Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca |
brāhmaṇānāṁ viśeṣeṇa havyakavyapratigrahe |
nānāvidheṣu bhojyeṣu prāyaścittāni śaṁsa me ||
Yudhiṣṭhira sprach: „Gerade bei den Brahmanen, die Opfergaben für die Götter (havis) und für die Ahnen (kavya) annehmen müssen und dabei mit vielerlei Speisen in Berührung kommen können: Welche Sühnen (prāyaścitta) sind dafür vorgeschrieben? Sage es mir.“
युधिषछ्िर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames an ethical-ritual dilemma: brahmins, by duty, receive sacrificial and ancestral offerings and may encounter diverse foods; Yudhiṣṭhira asks what prāyaścitta (expiation) applies when such necessary acceptance risks impurity or fault. The focus is on reconciling livelihood/ritual roles with standards of purity and dharma.
In Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction setting, Yudhiṣṭhira questions the authority figure teaching dharma about the proper expiations for brahmins who accept havya and kavya and partake of various foods—situations that can create doubt about sin, contamination, or improper acceptance.