Shloka 206
Prāyaścitta and Contextual Non-Culpability (प्रायश्चित्त-निमित्त-अदोषवाद)
शरीरस्य विमोक्षेण मुच्यते कर्मणो5शुभात् । गुरुपत्नीगमन करनेवाला मनुष्य तपायी हुई लोहेकी शिलापर सो जाय अथवा अपनी मृत्रेन्द्रिय काटकर ऊपरकी ओर देखता हुआ आगे बढ़ता चला जाय। इस प्रकार शरीर छूट जानेपर वह उस पापकर्मसे मुक्त हो जाता है
śarīrasya vimokṣeṇa mucyate karmaṇo'śubhāt |
Vyāsa said: By the release of the body (i.e., by death), one becomes freed from the burden of an inauspicious deed. In this context, the text points to the grievous sin of approaching the teacher’s wife: the sinner is described as undergoing extreme, self-destructive penances—such as lying upon a red-hot iron slab or cutting off his sexual organ and moving forward while looking upward. When the body finally falls away, he is said to be released from that sinful act. The passage frames a harsh ethical warning: certain transgressions are portrayed as demanding severe expiation, even at the cost of life.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse asserts that the severest sins are portrayed as requiring drastic expiation; ultimately, the ‘release of the body’ (death) is described as ending the sinner’s connection to that inauspicious act and its immediate burden. Ethically, it functions as a deterrent and a warning about the gravity of violating the guru’s household.
Vyāsa is describing the fate and expiatory options for a person guilty of approaching the teacher’s wife. The passage depicts extreme penances—self-harm and enduring unbearable heat—culminating in death, after which the text says the person is freed from that sinful deed.