Shloka 6

Akṣara–Kṣara Viveka: Vasiṣṭha–Karāla-Janaka Saṃvāda (अक्षर-क्षर विवेकः)

Devanagari script

अज्ञानाद्धि कृतं पापं तपसैवाभिनिर्णदेत्‌ । पापं हि कर्म फलति पापमेव स्वयं कृतम्‌ । तस्मात्‌ पापं न सेवेत कर्म दुःखफलोदयम्‌

Transliteration

ajñānād dhi kṛtaṃ pāpaṃ tapasāivābhinirṇudet | pāpaṃ hi karma phalati pāpam eva svayaṃ kṛtam | tasmāt pāpaṃ na seveta karma duḥkhaphalodayam |

Translation

Parāśara sprach: „Sünde, die aus Unwissenheit begangen wurde, soll durch Askese (tapas) ausgetrieben werden. Denn das böse Werk, das man selbst getan hat, reift nur als Böses heran — in der Gestalt des Leidens. Darum soll man niemals zu sündigem Handeln greifen, weil es schmerzvolle Früchte hervorbringt.“

Word by Word

• {'ajñānāt': 'from ignorance, due to lack of true knowledge', 'hi': 'indeed, for', 'kṛtam': 'done, committed', 'pāpam': 'sin, demerit, wrongful act', 'tapasā': 'by tapas

• austerity, disciplined penance', 'eva': 'alone, indeed, precisely', 'abhinirṇudet (abhinirṇud-et)': 'should drive out, should expel completely', 'karma': 'action, deed', 'phalati': 'bears fruit, ripens into results', 'svayam': 'by oneself, personally', 'tasmāt': 'therefore', 'na seveta': 'should not practice/indulge in

• should not resort to', 'duḥkha': 'pain, suffering', 'phala': 'fruit, result', 'udayam': 'arising, emergence'}

Speaker

पराशर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Parāśara

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even if wrongdoing arises from ignorance, it still produces painful consequences; therefore one should avoid sinful acts and, if such a fault has occurred, counteract it through tapas (austerity and disciplined self-restraint) to cleanse oneself.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and right conduct, the sage Parāśara is speaking, emphasizing moral causality: actions inevitably ripen into corresponding results, so one must refrain from pāpa and adopt purificatory discipline when errors occur.