Shloka 30
कालनिर्देशः शोकनिवारणं च
Instruction on Kāla and the Removal of Grief
स्त्रियास्तथापचारिण्या निष्कृति: स्याददूषिका । अपि सा पूयते तेन न तु भर्ता प्रदुष्पति,यदि व्यभिचारिणी स्त्रीका तिरस्कार किया जाय तो वह दोषकी बात नहीं है। उस तिरस्कारसे स्त्रीकी तो शुद्धि होती है और पति भी दोषका भागी नहीं होता
striyās tathāpācāriṇyā niṣkṛtiḥ syād adūṣikā | api sā pūyate tena na tu bhartā praduṣpati |
Vyāsa said: In the case of a woman who has behaved improperly, repudiation or social censure is a blameless form of expiation (prāyaścitta). By that very censure she is held to be purified, and the husband is not tainted by her transgression.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames repudiation/censure of a wife who has committed serious misconduct as a socially and ethically permissible expiation: it is said to cleanse her standing while preventing the husband from sharing in the moral taint of her act.
In Śānti Parva’s dharma-discourse, Vyāsa states a rule concerning household ethics: when a woman is guilty of improper conduct, the husband’s act of rejecting or censuring her is presented as a legitimate corrective measure, with the stated effect of purification and non-contamination of the husband.