Shloka 12
Prāyaścitta-vidhāna: Tapas, Dāna, Vrata, and Proportional Expiation (प्रायश्चित्तविधानम्)
द्विविधौ चाप्युभावेतौ धर्माधर्मा विजानताम् | अप्रवृत्ति: प्रवृत्तिश्न द्वैविध्य॑ लोकवेदयो:
dvividhau cāpy ubhāv etau dharmādharmau vijānatām | apravṛttiḥ pravṛttiś ca dvaividhyaṃ lokavedayoḥ ||
Vyāsa dit : «Pour ceux qui comprennent véritablement, dharma et adharma sont chacun de deux sortes, car ils varient selon le lieu et le temps. De même, la non-participation (l’abstention) et la participation (l’engagement dans l’action) sont elles aussi doubles, distinguées comme mondaines et védiques : il y a abstention mondaine et action mondaine, et abstention védique et action védique.»
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma and adharma cannot be judged in a single, rigid way; they are understood as twofold when viewed through differences of place and time, and also through the distinction between worldly norms (loka) and Vedic/scriptural injunctions (veda). Similarly, both abstention (apravṛtti) and engagement (pravṛtti) have worldly and Vedic forms.
Vyāsa is instructing the listener in the Śānti Parva’s ethical discourse, refining how moral categories should be interpreted: action and restraint, and even dharma versus adharma, must be evaluated with attention to context and to the differing authorities of social practice and Vedic teaching.