Shloka 59

Adhyāya 166: Kṛtaghna-doṣa (कृतघ्नदोषः) — the fault of ingratitude and the limits of expiation

Devanagari script

प्रायक्षित्तान्यथान्यानि प्रवक्ष्याम्यनुपूर्वश:

Transliteration

prāyaścittāny athānyāni pravakṣyāmy anupūrvaśaḥ

Translation

Bhīṣma said: “Now I shall set forth, in due order, the various other acts of expiation as well.”

Word by Word

• प्रायश्चित्तानि: expiations, penances
• प्रायश्चित्तानि: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रायश्चित्त
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Plural

• यथा: as, according to
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा

• अन्यानि: other (ones)
• अन्यानि: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अन्य
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Plural

• प्रवक्ष्यामि: I shall declare / explain
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच्
• Form: Simple Future (Luṭ), First, Singular, Parasmaipada

• अनुपूर्वशः: in due order, sequentially
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अनुपूर्वशः

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhīṣma emphasizes that expiation (prāyaścitta) is not arbitrary: it should be taught and undertaken systematically, with different remedies suited to different faults, presented in an ordered way.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instructional dialogue, Bhīṣma continues his discourse to Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma, transitioning to enumerate further forms of prāyaścitta and promising to explain them sequentially.