Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 226
ब्रह्मस्वहरण-निषेधः — Prohibition of Appropriating Brahmin Property
Brahmasva
सर्वसंगविनिर्मुक्त छन्दांस्युत्तारयन्त्युत । पृथ्वीनाथ! आश्रममें रहकर सब प्रकारकी आसक्तियोंसे मुक्ता हो वेदपाठ करनेवाले ब्राह्मगको यदि वह पापाचारी हो तो भी उसके द्वारा पढ़े जानेवाले वेद उसका उद्धार कर देते हैं
sarvasaṅgavinirmukta chāndāṁsy uttārayanty uta | pṛthvīnātha! āśrameṇa rahitvā sarvaprakārakī āsaktiyoṁ se muktā ho vedapāṭha karanevāle brāhmaṇo ko yadi sa pāpācārī ho to bhī usake dvārā paṭhita hue veda usakā uddhāra kara dete haiṁ |
The Caṇḍāla said: “O lord of the earth! The Vedic hymns indeed carry one across. Even if a Brahmin who dwells in an āśrama and is freed from every attachment is, in conduct, sinful, the very Vedas that he recites become the means of his deliverance.”
चाण्डाल उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse asserts the salvific power of Vedic recitation, especially when joined with life in an āśrama and freedom from attachment; it suggests that sacred learning and its disciplined practice can become a means of purification even when personal conduct is flawed.
A Caṇḍāla addresses a king (“Pṛthvīnātha”) and argues about the efficacy of Vedic hymns: he claims that the Vedas ‘carry one across’ and can uplift even a sinful Brahmin who recites them while living the āśrama-based disciplined life.