Shloka 12
न मूलघात: कर्तव्यो नैष धर्म: सनातन: । अपि स्वल्पवधेनैव प्रायश्षित्तं विधीयते
dyumatsena uvāca |
na mūlaghātaḥ kartavyo naiṣa dharmaḥ sanātanaḥ |
api svalpavadhenaiva prāyaścittaṃ vidhīyate ||
द्यूमत्सेन ने कहा—मूलोच्छेद नहीं करना चाहिए; यह सनातन धर्म नहीं है। अपराध के अनुरूप हल्के दण्ड से ही प्रायश्चित्त हो जाता है और उसी से पाप का क्षय होता है।
इुमत्सेन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Punishment should be proportionate and corrective, not exterminatory. Uprooting a person or group through total destruction is rejected as contrary to sanātana-dharma; mild, fitting chastisement can function as prāyaścitta (moral expiation) for wrongdoing.
In the didactic setting of Śānti Parva, Dyumatsena offers counsel on governance and moral discipline, arguing against ‘root-destruction’ (mūlaghāta) and in favor of measured penalties that reform and purify the offender.