Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 9
Cyavana’s Water-Vow and the Ethics of Cohabitation (स्नेह-सम्वास-धर्मः)
शूद्रां शयनमारोप्य ब्राह्मणो यात्यधोगतिम् । प्रायश्षित्तीयते चापि विधिदृष्टेन कर्मणा
śūdrāṁ śayanam āropya brāhmaṇo yāty adhogatim | prāyaścittīyate cāpi vidhidṛṣṭena karmaṇā ||
भीष्म बोले—यदि कोई ब्राह्मण शूद्र स्त्री को शय्या पर आरूढ़ करे (अर्थात् निषिद्ध संग करे), तो वह अधोगति को प्राप्त होता है; तथापि विधि के अनुसार निर्दिष्ट कर्म से प्रायश्चित्त करके वह शुद्ध भी हो सकता है।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse states that violating prescribed sexual boundaries (a brāhmaṇa taking a śūdra woman to bed) is a serious dharmic transgression leading to moral/spiritual decline, but it also affirms the dharma-śāstric principle that such faults can be addressed through properly prescribed prāyaścitta (expiatory rites).
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma, including social and ritual norms. Here he gives a rule-and-remedy formulation: he names a prohibited act and then notes that purification is possible through the expiation laid down by scriptural injunction.