Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 24
ब्रह्मस्वहरण-निषेधः — Prohibition of Appropriating Brahmin Property
Brahmasva
जातिस्मरत्वं च मम केनचित् पूर्वकर्मणा । शुभेन येन मोक्ष॑ वै प्राप्तुमिच्छाम्यहं नृप
jātismaratvaṁ ca mama kenacit pūrvakarmaṇā | śubhena yena mokṣaṁ vai prāptum icchāmy ahaṁ nṛpa ||
चाण्डाल बोला—हे नरेश्वर! पूर्वजन्म के किसी शुभ कर्म के प्रभाव से मुझे जातिस्मरण हुआ है; उसी पुण्य के कारण, हे नृप, मैं अब मोक्ष प्राप्त करना चाहता हूँ।
चाण्डाल उवाच
Educational Q&A
Auspicious past karma can awaken jātismaratva (memory of former births), which in turn can redirect a person’s aims from worldly concerns toward mokṣa (liberation). The verse links ethical merit with spiritual insight and the aspiration for release from saṁsāra.
A Caṇḍāla addresses a king and explains that he remembers previous lives due to some virtuous deed performed earlier. This remembrance has stirred in him a desire to seek liberation, setting the ethical-spiritual frame for the surrounding discourse.