Shloka 38
Babhruvāhana’s Lament and Appeal for Expiation (प्रायश्चित्त-याचना)
वीरं हि क्षत्रियं हत्वा गोशतेन प्रमुच्यते । पितरं तु निहत्यैवं दुर्लभा निष्कृतिर्मम
vīraṃ hi kṣatriyaṃ hatvā gośatena pramucyate | pitaraṃ tu nihatyaivaṃ durlabhā niṣkṛtir mama ||
किसी वीर क्षत्रिय का वध करके मनुष्य सौ गोदान से उस पाप से छूट जाता है; पर अपने पिता का वध करके वैसी ही निष्कृति मिल जाए—यह मेरे लिए अत्यन्त दुर्लभ है।
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse contrasts degrees of moral transgression: even grave violence like killing a heroic warrior is presented as having a recognized expiation (a hundred cow-gifts), whereas killing one’s father is portrayed as a uniquely weighty sin whose atonement is extremely difficult.
Vaiśaṃpāyana reports a reflection on guilt and expiation: the speaker measures conventional ritual atonements for battlefield killing against the far more severe, socially and ethically catastrophic act of patricide, emphasizing the near-impossibility of cleansing that stain.