Shloka 30
Prāyaścitta and Contextual Non-Culpability (प्रायश्चित्त-निमित्त-अदोषवाद)
स्त्रियस्त्वाशड्किता: पापा नोपगम्या विजानता । रजसा ता विशुध्यन्ते भस्मना भाजनं यथा
striyastvāśaṅkitāḥ pāpā nopagamyā vijānatā | rajasā tā viśudhyante bhasmanā bhājanaṃ yathā ||
Vyāsa sprach: Frauen, die (der Unziemlichkeit) verdächtigt werden und sündhaft sind, soll ein Kundiger des Rechten nicht aufsuchen. Durch ihren monatlichen Fluss werden sie gereinigt, wie ein Gefäß durch Asche gesäubert wird.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a dharma-based caution: a discerning person should avoid association with women deemed morally compromised or under suspicion, while also asserting a traditional notion of ritual/physical purification through menstruation, illustrated by the analogy of cleaning a vessel with ashes.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction-oriented discourse, Vyāsa delivers a normative statement about conduct and purity, using a household simile (ashes cleansing a pot) to support a rule about whom one should or should not approach.