Shloka 15
राजपूजाविधानम् / Royal Reception Protocols during Āśvamedha Preparations
त्रीनश्वमेधानत्र त्वं सम्प्राप्प बहुदक्षिणान् । ज्ञातिवध्याकृतं पापं प्रहास्यसि नराधिप,“नरेश्वर! यहाँ बहुत-सी दक्षिणावाले तीन अश्वमेध-यज्ञोंका फल पाकर तुम ज्ञातिवधके पापसे मुक्त हो जाओगे
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
trīn aśvamedhān atra tvaṁ samprāpya bahu-dakṣiṇān |
ñāti-vadhākṛtaṁ pāpaṁ prahāsyasi narādhipa ||
Waiśampāyana berkata: “Wahai raja, dengan melaksanakan di sini tiga Aśvamedha yang kaya akan dakṣiṇā, engkau akan meraih pahala mereka dan terbebas dari dosa akibat membunuh sanak-kerabatmu sendiri.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames royal ritual (Aśvamedha with abundant dakṣiṇā) as a means of moral and karmic purification, suggesting that grievous war-born guilt—especially the sin of killing one’s own kin—can be ritually expiated and socially reintegrated through sanctioned dharmic acts.
The narrator Vaiśampāyana addresses a king and foretells that by obtaining the fruit of three richly endowed Aśvamedha sacrifices, the king will be released from the pāpa arising from the slaughter of relatives—an explicit response to the ethical burden left by internecine war.