Shloka 47
Adhyāya 166: Kṛtaghna-doṣa (कृतघ्नदोषः) — the fault of ingratitude and the limits of expiation
सुरापो वारुणीमुष्णां पीत्वा पापाद् विमुच्यते
bhīṣma uvāca | surāpo vāruṇīm uṣṇāṃ pītvā pāpād vimucyate |
ビーシュマは言った。「酒を飲むという過失を犯した者は、灼けつくほど熱したヴァールニー（vāruṇī、ある種の酒）を飲むことで罪から解かれると言われる。その趣旨は、激しい身体の苦痛—あるいは灼熱による死さえも—が贖罪として働くということだ。そのように清められてはじめて、彼は清浄なる世界に至るに足る者と見なされ、さもなくば至ることはない。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents a harsh prāyaścitta (expiation) for the sin of drinking liquor: intense physical suffering (symbolized by drinking scalding vāruṇī, even to the point of death) is portrayed as a means of purification, after which one becomes eligible for ‘pure worlds’; without expiation, one is not.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhishma is teaching Yudhiṣṭhira about rules of conduct and expiations. Here he cites a specific expiatory rule concerning the liquor-drinker and the conditions under which purification is considered complete.