Shloka 11
Raibhya-putrayoḥ satra-vṛttāntaḥ — The Satra Episode of Raibhya’s Sons
Parāvasu and Arvāvasu
अर्वावसु बोले--भाई! आप परम बुद्धिमान् राजा बृहद्द्युम्नका यज्ञकार्य सम्पन्न करें और मैं आपके लिये इन्द्रियसंयमपूर्वक ब्रह्महत्याका प्रायश्चित्त करूँगा ।। लोगश उवाच स तस्य ब्रह्मुवध्याया: पारं गत्वा युधिष्ठिर । अर्वावसुस्तदा सत्रमाजगाम पुनर्मुनि:,लोमशजी कहते हैं--युधिष्ठिर! अर्वावसु मुनि भाईके लिये ब्रह्महत्याका प्रायश्ित्त पूरा करके पुनः उस यज्ञमें आये। परावसुने अपने भाईको वहाँ उपस्थित देखकर राजा बृहद्द्युम्नसे हर्षगदगद वाणीमें कहा--'राजन! यह ब्रह्महत्यारा है। अतः इसे आपका यज्ञ देखनेके लिये इस मण्डपमें प्रवेश नहीं करना चाहिये। ब्रह्मघाती मनुष्य अपनी दृष्टिमात्रसे भी आपको महान् कष्टमें डाल सकता है, इसमें संशय नहीं है”
lomaśa uvāca | sa tasya brahma-vadhyāyāḥ pāraṃ gatvā yudhiṣṭhira | arvāvasus tadā satram ājagāma punar muniḥ ||
Lomaśa said: “O Yudhiṣṭhira, having fully completed, on behalf of his brother, the expiation for the sin of brahmahatyā (the killing of a brāhmaṇa), the sage Arvāvasu returned once more to that sacrificial session (satra).” The episode sets a moral tension: sincere atonement and self-restraint on one side, and social fear of ritual pollution and the stigma of grave sin on the other.
लोगश उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even the gravest wrongdoing (brahmahatyā) is addressed in dharma through disciplined expiation and self-restraint; yet society may still fear ritual contamination, highlighting the tension between inner moral reform and external stigma.
Lomaśa tells Yudhiṣṭhira that the sage Arvāvasu, after completing the required expiation connected with brahmahatyā for his brother’s sake, returns to the ongoing sacrificial session (satra), setting up a conflict about whether such a person should be allowed into the sacrificial enclosure.