Shloka 216

Devanagari script

ब्रह्महत्या हि ते पापं प्रायश्षित्तार्थमात्मन: । तुझे ब्रह्महत्याका पाप लगा है। तुझ ब्रह्महत्यारेको देखकर लोग अपने प्रायश्ित्तके लिये सूर्यदेवका दर्शन करते हैं

Transliteration

brahmahatyā hi te pāpaṃ prāyaścittārtham ātmanaḥ |

Translation

Sañjaya said: “Indeed, the sin of brahma-slaying has come upon you. Seeing you marked by that brahmahatyā, people seek the sight of the Sun-god as an act of expiation for themselves.”

Word by Word

• ब्रह्महत्या: Brahmin-slaying (sin of killing a Brahmin)
• ब्रह्महत्या: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्रह्महत्यā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• हि: indeed/for
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हि

• ते: of you/your
• ते: Sampradana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: युष्मद्
• Form: —, Genitive, Singular

• पापम्: sin/evil
• पापम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• प्रायश्चित्तार्थम्: for the purpose of expiation
• प्रायश्चित्तार्थम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रायश्चित्तार्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• आत्मनः: of oneself/of the self
• आत्मनः: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: आत्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Sūrya (Sun-god)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Brahmahatyā is presented as an exceptionally heavy moral stain, and the verse highlights the traditional dharmic idea that grave wrongdoing calls for prāyaścitta (expiation). It also reflects the belief that sacred sight (darśana) of a deity—here Sūrya—can function as a purificatory act.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that a person addressed as “you” is perceived as bearing the taint of brahmahatyā. Because that taint is so conspicuous and feared, onlookers treat the situation as a prompt for their own purification, seeking Sūrya’s darśana as an expiatory measure.