Shloka 753
Adhyāya 166: Kṛtaghna-doṣa (कृतघ्नदोषः) — the fault of ingratitude and the limits of expiation
मांसं मूत्रं पुरीषं च प्राश्य संस्कारमर्हति । अनास्तिक पुरुषोंके लिये एक गोदानमात्र ही प्रायश्चित्त बतलाया गया है। कुत्ते
bhīṣma uvāca | māṁsaṁ mūtraṁ purīṣaṁ ca prāśya saṁskāram arhati |
Bhishma said: “If a twice-born person consumes flesh, urine, or excrement, he becomes liable for re-consecration through the prescribed purificatory rites. In this context, the teaching emphasizes that deliberate breaches of purity and faith—especially acts associated with impure or forbidden substances—are not treated as trivial lapses; they require formal expiation and restoration of dharmic standing through ritual discipline. The surrounding explanation adds that for an unbeliever (nāstika), a single cow-gift is stated as the expiation, and that consuming the flesh or filth (feces/urine) of animals such as dog, pig, human, rooster, and donkey necessitates renewed saṁskāra for a dvija.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage teaches that serious violations of purity norms—especially consuming forbidden or impure substances—require formal expiation and restorative rites (saṁskāra) to re-establish dharmic eligibility; it also notes a specific expiation (cow-gift) in the case of a nāstika.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhishma is advising Yudhishthira about rules of conduct and expiation, specifying what purification is required when a dvija consumes impure substances and mentioning related expiations for particular cases.