Shloka 10
परिव्राजक-आचारः (Conduct of the Wandering Renunciant) — Mahābhārata, Śānti-parva 269
पुरस्ताद् भावितात्मानो यथावच्चरितव्रता: । चरन्ति धर्म कृच्छेडपि दुर्गे चैवापि संहता:,वे आवश्यक नियमोंका यथावत् पालन करके पहले अपने चित्तको शुद्ध करते थे और कठिनाई तथा दुर्गम स्थानोंमें पड़ जानेपर भी परस्पर मिलकर धर्मानुष्ठानमें तत्पर रहते थे। संघ-बद्ध होकर धर्मानुष्ठान करनेवाले उन पूर्ववर्ती पुरुषोंको इसमें सुखका ही अनुभव होता था। उन्हें किसी प्रकारका प्रायक्षित्त करनेकी आवश्यकता नहीं पड़ती थी
purastād bhāvitātmāno yathāvac caritavratāḥ | caranti dharmaṃ kṛcchre 'pi durge caivāpi saṃhatāḥ ||
Kapila said: “In earlier times, men of disciplined conduct first purified their inner selves by observing the required restraints correctly. Even when faced with hardship or forced to pass through difficult, perilous places, they remained united and continued their practice of dharma together. For those former people who performed dharma in a bonded community, the very act was experienced as happiness; they did not fall into the kind of fault that would require expiation (prāyaścitta).”
कपिल उवाच
Educational Q&A
True dharma is sustained by inner purification and disciplined observance of vows; when practiced correctly and collectively, it becomes a source of joy and prevents moral lapses that would otherwise demand expiation.
Kapila contrasts an earlier ideal of practitioners who purified themselves first and then continued dharma even through hardship and dangerous conditions, emphasizing their unity (saṃhati) and the resulting freedom from the need for prāyaścitta.