Shloka 18
मांसपरिवर्जन-प्रशंसा (Praise of Abstention from Meat) / Ethics of Ahiṃsā in Diet and Rite
द्विजेभ्यो वेदवृद्धेभ्य: प्रयतः सुसमाहित: । तेनापोहति धर्मात्मन् दुष्कृतं कर्म पाण्डव
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca |
dvijebhyo vedavṛddhebhyaḥ prayataḥ susamāhitaḥ |
tenāpohati dharmātman duṣkṛtaṃ karma pāṇḍava ||
ユディシュティラは言った。「おお、法に生きる者よ、パーンドゥの子よ。身を律し、心を深く鎮め、己が腕力によって得た食を、ヴェーダに通じた婆羅門—ヴェーダ智において年長の賢者たち—へと施す者は、その施しの力によって自らの悪業を洗い流す。婆羅門の財を奪うことなく、正しく民を護る行いに根ざした布施は、徳を清める道となる。」
युधिछ्िर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Disciplined, sincere giving—especially offering food to Veda-learned Brāhmaṇas—functions as a moral purifier, removing the stain of prior wrongdoing; charity is framed as part of righteous kṣatriya conduct rather than exploitation.
Yudhiṣṭhira addresses a Pāṇḍava interlocutor and states a dharma principle: when one, with a composed mind, donates sustenance to Vedic elders, the merit of that act dispels past sinful actions.