Shloka 16
Prāyaścitta and Contextual Non-Culpability (प्रायश्चित्त-निमित्त-अदोषवाद)
सुरापानं सकृत् कृत्वा योडग्निवर्णा सुरां पिबेत् । स पावयत्यथात्मानमिह लोके परत्र च
surāpānaṃ sakṛt kṛtvā yo 'gnivarṇāṃ surāṃ pibet | sa pāvayaty athātmānam iha loke paratra ca ||
जो एक बार सुरापान कर चुका हो और फिर अग्नि के समान तप्त की हुई मदिरा पी ले, वह इहलोक और परलोक—दोनों में—अपने को पवित्र कर लेता है।
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents a prescribed expiation (prāyaścitta) for the fault of drinking intoxicants: an extreme, painful act is said to cleanse the offender’s impurity and restore moral-ritual standing, with consequences affecting both this life and the next.
Within the dharma-instructional discourse of the Śānti Parva, Vyāsa states a rule-like injunction describing how one who has drunk liquor may undertake a specific expiatory practice—drinking liquor heated to a fire-like state—to achieve purification.