Shloka 12
Akṣara–Kṣara Viveka: Vasiṣṭha–Karāla-Janaka Saṃvāda (अक्षर-क्षर विवेकः)
अज्ञानात् तु कृतां हिंसामहिंसा व्यपकर्षति । ब्राह्मणा: शास्त्रनिर्देशादित्याहुर्बग्रह्मयवादिन:
ajñānāt tu kṛtāṃ hiṃsām ahiṃsā vyapakarṣati | brāhmaṇāḥ śāstra-nirdeśād ity āhur brahma-vādinaḥ |
अज्ञानवश जो हिंसा हो जाती है, उसे अहिंसा-व्रत का पालन दूर कर देता है—शास्त्र-निर्देश के अनुसार ब्रह्मवादी ब्राह्मण ऐसा कहते हैं।
पराशर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Moral accountability depends on intention: harm done unknowingly can be cleansed through the discipline of ahiṃsā and related expiatory conduct, as taught by śāstra; deliberate violence is ethically heavier and is not annulled merely by adopting a vow afterward.
In Śānti Parva’s dharma-discourse, Parāśara instructs on the ethics of non-violence and expiation, citing the consensus of scripturally grounded Brahmin sages about how unintentional harm may be remedied.