Shloka 43

Prāyaścitta and Contextual Non-Culpability (प्रायश्चित्त-निमित्त-अदोषवाद)

Devanagari script

अनुरूपं हि पापस्य प्रायश्ित्तमुदाह्तम्‌ । महापातकवर्ज तु प्रायश्षित्तं विधीयते,मैंने तुम्हारे सामने पापके अनुरूप प्रायश्चित्त बतलाया है, परंतु महापातकोंसे भिन्न पापोंके लिये ही ऐसा प्रायश्षित्त किया जाता है

Transliteration

anurūpaṃ hi pāpasya prāyaścittam udāhṛtam | mahāpātaka-varjaṃ tu prāyaścittaṃ vidhīyate ||

Translation

Vyāsa said: “I have set forth expiations proportionate to the particular sin. Yet such prescribed expiation is laid down only for sins other than the great, deadly transgressions (mahāpātakas).”

Word by Word

अनुरूपम्appropriate, corresponding

हिindeed, for

पापस्यof sin

प्रायश्चित्तम्expiation, penance

उदाहृतम्has been stated/declared

महापातकवर्जात्from/than that which is excluded from great sins (i.e., other than mahāpātakas)

तुbut, however

प्रायश्चित्तम्expiation, penance

विधीयतेis prescribed/ordained

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vyāsa

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Expiation should be proportionate to the wrongdoing, but the standard scheme of prāyaścitta is primarily meant for lesser sins; the gravest transgressions (mahāpātakas) are treated as exceptional and not covered by ordinary atonements.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the didactic discourse of Śānti Parva, Vyāsa is clarifying the scope of the expiatory rules he has just described, distinguishing ordinary sins from the category of mahāpātakas.