Shloka 14

परिव्राजक-आचारः (Conduct of the Wandering Renunciant) — Mahābhārata, Śānti-parva 269

Devanagari script

तस्मिन्‌ विधौ स्थितानां हि प्रायश्षित्तं न विद्यते । दुर्बलात्मन उत्पन्न प्रायश्षित्तमिति श्रुति:

Transliteration

tasmin vidhau sthitānāṃ hi prāyaścittaṃ na vidyate | durbalātman utpannaṃ prāyaścittam iti śrutiḥ ||

Translation

कपिल बोले—उस विधि में जो स्थिर रहते हैं, उनके लिए प्रायश्चित्त होता ही नहीं। प्रायश्चित्त का विधान तो दुर्बल-हृदय वालों के लिए कहा गया है; क्योंकि पाप उन्हीं से उत्पन्न होता है—ऐसा शास्त्रों में सुना जाता है।

Word by Word

• {'tasmin': 'in that (state/discipline)', 'vidhau': 'in the prescribed method

• in the rule/discipline (vidhi)', 'sthitānām': 'of those who are established/steadfast', 'hi': 'indeed, for', 'prāyaścittam': 'expiation, atonement, penance for wrongdoing', 'na vidyate': 'does not exist

• is not applicable', 'durbala-ātman': 'one of weak self/weak mind

• lacking inner firmness', 'utpannam': 'arisen, produced, originating', 'iti': 'thus', 'śrutiḥ': 'authoritative teaching/tradition

Speaker

कपिल उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Kapila

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Kapila teaches that expiation (prāyaścitta) is a remedial rule meant for those who lapse due to inner weakness; one who is firmly established in the right discipline and purity does not generate the kind of fault that requires atonement.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and liberation-oriented discipline, Kapila is explaining the logic of moral failure and penance: wrongdoing is linked to weakness of mind, and therefore the tradition prescribes prāyaścitta as a corrective for such persons, not as a necessity for the steadfast.