Shloka 27

कालनिर्देशः शोकनिवारणं च

Instruction on Kāla and the Removal of Grief

Devanagari script

पारिवित्त्यं तु पतिते नास्ति प्रव्रजिते तथा । भिक्षिते पारदार्य च तद्‌ धर्मस्य न दूषकम्‌

Transliteration

pārivittyaṃ tu patite nāsti pravrajite tathā | bhikṣite pāradārya ca tad dharmasya na dūṣakam ||

Translation

Vyāsa said: “The fault called ‘pārivittya’ does not apply in the case of one who has fallen from right conduct, nor likewise in the case of one who has renounced the world. And when one is reduced to begging, even taking another’s wife (as a means of survival) is not regarded as a defilement of dharma.”

Word by Word

पारिवित्त्यम्the state/act of being a pari-vitta (marrying before the elder brother)

तुbut

पतितेin the case of a fallen (person)

नnot

अस्तिis/exists

प्रव्रजितेin the case of one who has gone forth (renounced)

तथाlikewise

भिक्षितेin the case of one who lives by begging (a beggar)

पारदार्यम्adultery (going to another's wife)

चand

तत्that

धर्मस्यof dharma / of righteousness

नnot

दूषकम्a corrupter/defiler (something that vitiates)

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vyāsa

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?

The verse states that certain social-legal faults (like pārivittya) are not applied uniformly; in cases of moral fall, renunciation, or extreme destitution, the usual standards may be suspended, implying a contextual and exception-based approach to dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vyāsa is articulating a dharma-judgment: he lists conditions (a fallen person, a renunciant, and one driven to begging) under which specific transgressions are said not to ‘taint’ dharma in the same way, reflecting the Shānti Parva’s broader discussion of nuanced ethical reasoning.