Shloka 72
Adhyāya 166: Kṛtaghna-doṣa (कृतघ्नदोषः) — the fault of ingratitude and the limits of expiation
परिधायोर्ध्ववालं तु पात्रमादाय मृन्मयम् । चरेत् सप्तगृहा न्नित्यं स्वकर्म परिकीर्तयन्
paridhāyordhvavālaṃ tu pātram ādāya mṛṇmayam | caret saptagṛhān nityaṃ svakarma parikīrtayan ||
Bhishma said: “Let the sinner who has slain a cow wear the cow’s tail-hair so that its hairs point upward. Taking an earthen bowl in hand, he should daily go to seven houses to beg, openly declaring his sinful deed. Whatever food is obtained from those seven houses, he should live on that alone. By such conduct he becomes purified in twelve days; and if the sin is heavier, he should undertake this observance for a year, by which he destroys his sin.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Atonement is not merely ritual: it requires humility, restraint, and public acknowledgment of wrongdoing. The penance combines visible signs of contrition, limited sustenance, and confession, aiming at moral reform and purification.
In Bhishma’s instruction on dharma and expiations, he prescribes a specific prāyaścitta for the grave sin of cow-slaughter: wearing a sign of penance, begging from seven houses with an earthen bowl while confessing the deed, living only on that alms-food, and continuing for twelve days (or up to a year for greater guilt).