Shloka 27

Prāyaścitta and Contextual Non-Culpability (प्रायश्चित्त-निमित्त-अदोषवाद)

Devanagari script

कृच्छाद्‌ द्वादशरात्रेण संयतात्मा व्रते स्थित: । परिवेत्ता भवेत्‌ पूत: परिवित्तिस्तथैव च,बड़े भाईके अविवाहित रहते हुए विवाह करनेवाला छोटा भाई और उसका वह बड़ा भाई--ये दोनों मनको संयममें रखते हुए बारह राततक कृच्छुव्रतका अनुष्ठान करनेसे शुद्ध हो जाते हैं

Transliteration

kṛcchrād dvādaśarātreṇa saṃyatātmā vrate sthitaḥ | parivettā bhavet pūtaḥ parivittis tathaiva ca ||

Translation

Dengan menjalankan tapa-penebusan Kṛcchra selama dua belas malam, teguh dalam laku dan mengekang batin—adik yang menikah ketika kakak masih belum menikah menjadi suci; demikian pula sang kakak yang ‘terlewati’ (parivitti) pun menjadi suci.

Word by Word

कृच्छात्from/through the Kṛcchra (penance)

द्वादशरात्रेणby (observance lasting) twelve nights

संयतात्माself-controlled

व्रतेin the vow/observance

स्थितःstanding/remaining (engaged)

परिवेत्ताthe younger brother who marries before the elder

भवेत्would become

पूतःpurified

परिवित्तिःthe elder brother who remains unmarried (while the younger marries)

तथाthus/likewise

एवindeed/just

चand

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vyāsa

parivettā (younger brother marrying first)

parivitti (elder brother passed over)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

When the customary marital order between elder and younger brothers is disrupted, dharma prescribes purification through disciplined atonement: both the one who ‘oversteps’ (parivettā) and the one who is ‘passed over’ (parivitti) can be cleansed by a twelve-night Kṛcchra observance performed with self-control.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vyāsa is laying down a rule of prāyaścitta (expiation) in a dharma-discussion context: he specifies that a twelve-night Kṛcchra vow, undertaken with mental restraint, purifies both brothers involved in the situation where the younger marries while the elder remains unmarried.