Shloka 38
Prāyaścitta and Contextual Non-Culpability (प्रायश्चित्त-निमित्त-अदोषवाद)
अह:ःसु सततं तिष्ठेदभ्याकाशं निशां स्वपन् । त्रिरह्नि त्रिर्निशायां च सवासा जलमाविशेत्,मनुष्यको चाहिये कि वह दिनमें खड़ा रहे, रातमें खुले मैदानमें सोये, तीन बार दिनमें और तीन बार रातमें वस्त्रों सहित जलमें घुसकर स्नान करे और इस व्रतका पालन करते समय स्त्री-शूद्र और पतितसे बातचीत न करे, ऐसा नियम लेनेवाला द्विज अज्ञानवश किये हुए सब पापोंसे मुक्त हो जाता है
ahaḥsu satataṁ tiṣṭhed abhyākāśaṁ niśāṁ svapan | trir ahni trir niśāyāṁ ca savāsā jalam āviśet ||
Vyāsa said: “Let him remain standing continually through the day, and at night sleep under the open sky. Three times in the day and three times in the night, clothed as he is, let him enter water (for bathing).” A twice-born who undertakes such a vow is said to be released from sins committed through ignorance.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches rigorous self-restraint and bodily discipline as a form of expiation and purification: sustained endurance (standing by day), simplicity (sleeping under the open sky), and repeated ritual bathing are presented as means to cleanse faults—especially those arising from ignorance—when undertaken as a formal vow.
Within Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and remedial practices, Vyāsa prescribes a specific austerity-based observance (vrata/prāyaścitta), detailing its daily regimen (posture, sleeping conditions, and frequency of bathing) as part of guidance on how a dvija may atone for unintended wrongdoing.