Shloka 16
सुरापानं सकृत् कृत्वा योडग्निवर्णा सुरां पिबेत् । स पावयत्यथात्मानमिह लोके परत्र च,जो एक बार मदिरा-पान करके फिर आगके समान गर्म की हुई मदिरा पी लेता है, वह इहलोक और परलोकमें भी अपनेको पवित्र कर लेता है
surāpānaṃ sakṛt kṛtvā yo 'gnivarṇāṃ surāṃ pibet | sa pāvayaty athātmānam iha loke paratra ca ||
Vyāsa says: If a person, having once committed the act of drinking liquor, then drinks liquor heated until it is fire-like, he thereby purifies himself—both in this world and in the world beyond.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents a prescribed expiation (prāyaścitta) for the fault of drinking intoxicants: an extreme, painful act is said to cleanse the offender’s impurity and restore moral-ritual standing, with consequences affecting both this life and the next.
Within the dharma-instructional discourse of the Śānti Parva, Vyāsa states a rule-like injunction describing how one who has drunk liquor may undertake a specific expiatory practice—drinking liquor heated to a fire-like state—to achieve purification.