Shloka 51
अध्याय २८१ — दानधर्मः, न्यायागतधनम्, ऋणत्रय-परिशोधनं च
Dāna ethics, lawful wealth, and settling obligations
ब्रह्मोवाच इयं वृत्रादनुप्राप्ता पुरुहृतं महाभया । ब्रह्मवध्या चतुर्थाशमस्या यूय॑ प्रतीच्छत,ब्रह्माजीने कहा--वृत्रासुरके वधसे इन्द्रको यह महाभयंकर ब्रह्महत्या प्राप्त हुई है। तुमलोग इसका एक चौथाई भाग ग्रहण कर लो
brahmovāca iyaṃ vṛtrād anuprāptā puruhṛtaṃ mahābhayā | brahmavadhyā caturthāṃśam asyā yūyaṃ pratīcchata ||
Brahmā said: ‘This dread and terrible burden of Brahmin-slaying (brahmahatyā), arising from the killing of Vṛtra, has come upon Indra, the slayer of many. Accept from it a fourth share.’
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even a deed done in a larger cosmic or political necessity can carry moral residue; the text frames brahmahatyā as a grave ethical taint that must be acknowledged and ritually/morally apportioned and resolved, rather than denied.
Brahmā explains that the terrifying brahmahatyā incurred through Vṛtra’s killing has come upon Indra, and he instructs a group addressed as ‘you all’ to accept one quarter of that burden—introducing the motif of distributing the consequences of a great transgression.