Shloka 3
अहिंसयित्वा ब्रह्महत्याविधानम् / Brahmahatyā incurred without physical violence
युधिछिर उवाच श्रद्धया परया पूतो यः प्रयच्छेद् द्विजातये । हव्यं कव्यं तथा दानं को दोष: स्यात् पितामह
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca
śraddhayā parayā pūto yaḥ prayacched dvijātaye |
havyaṃ kavyaṃ tathā dānaṃ ko doṣaḥ syāt pitāmaha ||
Yudhiṣṭhira sprach: „Großvater, wenn ein Mensch—allein durch höchsten Glauben gereinigt—einem Zweimalgeborenen (einem Brāhmaṇa) Opfergaben für die Götter (havya), Opfergaben für die Ahnen (kavya) und andere Gaben darbringt, welcher Makel, wenn überhaupt, haftet ihm dann noch an, weil ihm andere Formen ritueller Reinheit fehlen?“
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a dharma-question: whether inner purity through supreme faith (śraddhā) is sufficient to sanctify acts of giving—especially sacred offerings to gods and ancestors—or whether lack of external/ritual purity still produces a moral or ritual fault.
In the Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction on dharma, Yudhiṣṭhira addresses Bhīṣma as ‘Grandfather’ and asks him to judge the status of a donor who gives havya, kavya, and other gifts to a brāhmaṇa relying primarily on faith, seeking clarification about any remaining दोष (defect) due to other impurities.