Shloka 31
कालनिर्देशः शोकनिवारणं च
Instruction on Kāla and the Removal of Grief
तत्त्वं ज्ञात्वा तु सोमस्य विक्रय: स्याददोषवान् | असमर्थस्य भृत्यस्य विसर्ग: स्याददोषवान् | वनदाहो गवामर्थे क्रियमाणो न दूषक:
tattvaṃ jñātvā tu somasya vikrayaḥ syād adoṣavān | asamarthasya bhṛtyasya visargaḥ syād adoṣavān | vanadāho gavām arthe kriyamāṇo na dūṣakaḥ |
Vyāsa dit : « Lorsqu’on saisit le principe véritable, même la vente du Soma peut être exempte de faute. De même, renvoyer un serviteur incapable peut être sans faute. Et un feu de forêt allumé pour le bien du bétail—lorsqu’il est fait dans ce but—n’est pas blâmable. »
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma is assessed by underlying principle and purpose: actions that can appear blameworthy (selling Soma, dismissing a servant, setting a forest-fire) may be ethically faultless when grounded in right understanding, necessity, and a legitimate end.
In the Śānti Parva’s dharma-discourse, Vyāsa offers illustrative cases to show that moral judgment depends on context and intent; he lists examples where an act becomes ‘adoṣavān’ (non-culpable) when performed with proper rationale and for a justified purpose.