Shloka 11
परिव्राजक-आचारः (Conduct of the Wandering Renunciant) — Mahābhārata, Śānti-parva 269
संहत्य धर्म चरतां पुरा55सीत् सुखमेव तत् | तेषां नासीद् विधातवयं प्रायश्षित्तं कथंचन
saṁhatya dharmaṁ caratāṁ purā āsīt sukham eva tat | teṣāṁ nāsīd vidhātavyaṁ prāyaścittaṁ kathaṁcana ||
Kapila dit : «Autrefois, lorsque les hommes pratiquaient le dharma dans l’unité, cette manière de vivre était, en elle-même, éprouvée comme un bonheur. Pour ceux qui vivaient et agissaient ensemble dans la droiture, il n’y avait nul besoin de prescrire une expiation (prāyaścitta).»
कपिल उवाच
Educational Q&A
Kapila links moral health to social unity: when people collectively uphold dharma, life becomes naturally harmonious and joyful, and the need for expiatory measures (prāyaścitta) diminishes because serious transgressions are less likely to arise.
Kapila is describing an earlier ideal condition of society in which people practiced dharma together; he contrasts that with later times where moral lapses require formal prescriptions of atonement.