Shloka 57
Adhyāya 166: Kṛtaghna-doṣa (कृतघ्नदोषः) — the fault of ingratitude and the limits of expiation
वैश्यं हत्वा तु वर्षे द्वे ऋषभैकशतं च गा: । शूद्रं हत्वाब्दमेवेकमृषभं च शतं च गा:
vaiśyaṃ hatvā tu varṣe dve ṛṣabhaikaśataṃ ca gāḥ | śūdraṃ hatvābdam evāikaṃ ṛṣabhaṃ ca śataṃ ca gāḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: If one has slain a Vaiśya, then after living under the previously stated discipline for two years, one should give in charity one hundred bulls and one hundred cows. If one has slain a Śūdra, then after living under that discipline for one year, one should give in charity one bull and one hundred cows. The teaching frames graded expiation as a means to acknowledge harm, restrain the offender through austerity, and restore moral order through prescribed gifts.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches a graded system of prāyaścitta: wrongful killing requires a period of disciplined living (austerity/restraint) followed by prescribed gifts (especially cattle) to acknowledge the offense and seek moral restoration.
In the Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and expiations. Here he specifies the duration of penance and the cattle-dāna to be performed after killing a Vaiśya or a Śūdra.