Shloka 24

Devanagari script

अयोजयित्वा क्लेशेन जन प्लाव्य च दुष्कृतम्‌ । मृत्युना55त्मकृते नेह कर्म कृत्वा55त्मशक्तिभि:,वह किसीको भी कष्ट न देकर प्रायश्षित्तके द्वारा अपने पापको नष्ट कर डालता है और अपनी शक्तिके अनुसार शुभकर्म करके स्वेच्छासे मृत्युको अंगीकार करता है

Transliteration

ayojayitvā kleśena janaṁ plāvya ca duṣkṛtam | mṛtyunā ātmakṛte neha karma kṛtvā ātmaśaktibhiḥ ||

Translation

Parāśara said: “Without causing anyone distress, one should wash away one’s wrongdoing through austerity and expiation; then, performing wholesome deeds according to one’s own capacity, one may accept death of one’s own accord—rather than being driven to it by the consequences of self-made acts.”

Word by Word

अयोजयित्वाhaving not caused/inflicted (having not yoked/engaged)

क्लेशेनby/with suffering, by hardship

जनम्people, a person (the populace)

प्लाव्यhaving caused to be flooded/overwhelmed (i.e., having troubled)

चand

दुष्कृतम्sin, evil deed

मृत्युनाby death

आत्मकृतेin (a matter) done for oneself / for one’s own sake

इहhere, in this world

कर्मdeed, action

कृत्वाhaving done

आत्मशक्तिभिःwith one’s own powers/abilities

Speaker

पराशर उवाच

Characters & Entities

प

पराशर (Parāśara)

म

मृत्यु (Death, as a concept)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Wrongdoing should be purified through penance and expiation without harming others; thereafter one should live by wholesome action within one’s capacity, meeting death with conscious acceptance rather than as a forced consequence of one’s own misdeeds.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s dharma-instructional discourse, the sage Parāśara lays down a moral guideline: cleanse sin through prāyaścitta, avoid causing suffering to others, and then pursue good works proportionate to one’s strength, culminating in a composed acceptance of death.