Shloka 32
Prāyaścitta and Contextual Non-Culpability (प्रायश्चित्त-निमित्त-अदोषवाद)
चतुष्पात् सकलो धर्मों ब्राह्मणस्य विधीयते । पादावकृष्टो राजन्ये तथा धर्मो विधीयते
catuṣpāt sakalo dharmo brāhmaṇasya vidhīyate | pādāvakṛṣṭo rājanye tathā dharmo vidhīyate ||
Vyāsa dit : «Pour le brāhmane, le dharma est prescrit dans sa forme entière, aux quatre “pieds”. Pour le kṣatriya, le dharma est également prescrit, mais avec un “pied” retranché—moins accompli que celui du brāhmane.»
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents a graded model of varṇa-based duties: the Brāhmaṇa is enjoined to uphold dharma in its full, ‘four-part’ completeness, while the Kṣatriya’s dharma is described as comparatively reduced by one part—suggesting differing expectations and emphases in ethical-religious obligations across social roles.
In Śānti Parva’s instructional discourse on governance and righteousness after the war, Vyāsa states a normative principle about how dharma is prescribed for different varṇas, contrasting the completeness of Brāhmaṇa-dharma with the comparatively diminished form assigned to the royal/warrior class.