Shloka 5
मांसपरिवर्जन-प्रशंसा (Praise of Abstention from Meat) / Ethics of Ahiṃsā in Diet and Rite
परंतु जो अज्ञानवश अधर्म बन जानेपर पुनः उसके लिये पश्चात्ताप करता है, उसे चाहिये कि मनको वशमें रखकर वह फिर कभी पापका सेवन न करे ।।
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | parantu yo'jñānavaśād adharmaṁ kṛtvā punaḥ tasya kṛte paścāt-tāpaṁ karoti, tasya kartavyaṁ yat manasaṁ vaśe kṛtvā sa punaḥ kadācit pāpa-sevanaṁ na kuryāt || yathā yathā manas tasya duṣkṛtaṁ karma garhate | tathā tathā śarīraṁ tu tena adharmeṇa mucyate ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “But if a person, through ignorance, falls into unrighteous conduct and afterwards feels remorse for it, he should bring his mind under control and never again indulge in sin. For as the mind increasingly condemns its own evil deed, so the body—indeed the person—becomes increasingly freed from the bondage created by that unrighteousness.”
युधिछ्िर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Remorse alone is not sufficient; genuine repentance must culminate in mastery of the mind and a firm resolve not to repeat the sin. Inner moral censure (the mind’s rejection of wrongdoing) progressively loosens the binding force of adharma.
In the Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction-focused dialogue, Yudhiṣṭhira articulates an ethical principle: when someone errs through ignorance, the proper response is repentance coupled with disciplined restraint, leading to gradual release from the consequences of unrighteous action.