Shloka 35
Adhyāya 33 — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Post-Conflict Remorse and Inquiry on Āśrama Discipline (शोक-विमर्शः, आश्रम-जिज्ञासा)
यो हि पापसमारम्भे कार्ये तदभावभावित: । कुर्वन्नपि तथैव स्यात् कृत्वा च निरपत्रप:
yo hi pāpasamārambhe kārye tadbhāvabhāvitaḥ | kurvann api tathaiva syāt kṛtvā ca nirapatrapaḥ ||
Vyāsa said: When a man undertakes a sinful act while his mind is already steeped in sinful intention, he remains possessed by that same disposition even as he performs it; and after doing it, he feels no shame. Scripture declares that in such a person the sin becomes fully established. For him there is no expiation, and even expiatory rites do not destroy the stain of that wrongdoing.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Sin becomes firmly rooted when a person begins a wrongful act with deliberate sinful intent and remains unashamed afterward; such shameless, intention-driven wrongdoing is said to be beyond the reach of ordinary expiation.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and conduct, Vyāsa states a principle about culpability: inner intention and the absence of remorse determine how deeply sin adheres, and he warns that ritual atonement is ineffective when there is no shame or moral turning.