Shloka 32
सोमरसके तत्त्वको जानकर यदि उसका विक्रय किया जाय तो बेचनेवाला दोषका भागी नहीं होता। जो सेवक काम करनेमें असमर्थ हो जाय, उसे छोड़ देनेसे भी दोष नहीं लगता। गौओंकी सुविधाके लिये यदि जंगलमें आग लगायी जाय तो उससे पाप नहीं होता है।। उक्तान्येतानि कर्माणि यानि कुर्वन्न दुष्यति । प्रायक्षित्तानि वक्ष्यामि विस्तरेणैव भारत,भरतनन्दन! ये सब तो मैंने वे कर्म बताये हैं, जिन्हें करनेवाला दोषका भागी नहीं होता है। अब मैं विरतारपूर्वक प्रायश्ित्तोंका वर्णन करूँगा
soma-rasake tattvako jānkar yadi usakā vikraya kiyā jāya to becanevālā doṣakā bhāgī nahīṁ hotā | yo sevaka kāma karanemeṁ asamartha ho jāya, use choṛ denese bhī doṣa nahīṁ lagtā | gāvoṁkī suvidhāke liye yadi jaṅgalameṁ āga lagāyī jāya to usase pāpa nahīṁ hotā hai || uktāny etāni karmāṇi yāni kurvann na duṣyati | prāyaścittāni vakṣyāmi vistareṇaiva bhārata, bharata-nandana! ye sab to maine ve karm batāye haiṁ, jinheṁ karanevālā doṣakā bhāgī nahīṁ hotā hai | ab maiṁ vistārapūrvak prāyaścittoṁkā varṇan karūṁgā
Vyāsa said: If one, knowing the true nature of the Soma-juice, sells it, the seller does not incur blame. Likewise, there is no fault in dismissing a servant who has become incapable of performing his duties. And if, for the welfare of cattle, a forest is set on fire, no sin arises from that act. These are the kinds of actions, O Bhārata, which, when performed, do not taint a person with wrongdoing. Having thus stated the acts that do not generate culpability, I shall now describe, in full detail, the expiations (prāyaścitta) to be undertaken.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma is not judged only by the outward act but by intention, knowledge, and context: certain actions that might appear blameworthy (selling Soma-juice, dismissing an incapable servant, burning a forest for cattle’s welfare) can be free from doṣa when done for a legitimate purpose and with proper understanding. The passage also transitions from ‘faultless acts’ to the topic of prāyaścitta (expiation) for genuinely blameworthy deeds.
In Śānti Parva, Vyāsa is instructing the Bharata king (commonly Yudhiṣṭhira) on dharma. Here he concludes a set of examples of actions that do not incur moral taint and announces that he will next explain prāyaścittas—detailed expiatory measures—thereby shifting from defining non-culpable conduct to prescribing remedies for culpable conduct.