Shloka 6
अध्याय २९४ — योगलक्षणम् तथा सांख्यपरिसंख्यानम्
Yoga Definition and Sāṃkhya Enumeration
अपूर्विणा न कर्तव्यं कर्म लोके विगर्लहितम् । कृतपूर्व तु त्यजतो महान् धर्म इति श्रुति:
apūrviṇā na kartavyaṃ karma loke vigarhitam | kṛtapūrvaṃ tu tyajato mahān dharma iti śrutiḥ ||
पराशर ने कहा—जो कर्म लोक में निन्दित है, उसे पहली बार आरम्भ नहीं करना चाहिए; पर जिसने पहले किया हो, वह यदि उसे त्याग दे, तो श्रुति के अनुसार वह महान् धर्म है।
पराशर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Do not initiate a socially and morally censured action; and if one has already fallen into such conduct, the truly dharmic response is to abandon it—renunciation of wrongdoing is itself praised as a great virtue.
In the didactic setting of Śānti Parva, Parāśara instructs on practical ethics: he contrasts the blame of beginning a condemned deed with the merit of reform—stopping a previously committed wrong—grounding the point in recognized sacred authority (śruti).