Shloka 55
Adhyāya 166: Kṛtaghna-doṣa (कृतघ्नदोषः) — the fault of ingratitude and the limits of expiation
द्विगुणा ब्रह्म॒हत्या वै आत्रेयीनिधने भवेत् । इसी तरह जो जान-बूझकर गर्भेणी स्त्रीकी हत्या करता है; उसे उस गर्भिणी-वधके कारण दो ब्रह्महत्याओंका पाप लगता है ।।
bhīṣma uvāca | dviguṇā brahmahatyā vai ātreyī-nidhane bhavet | surāpaḥ niyatāhāraḥ brahmacārī kṣitīśayaḥ | trīṇi varṣāṇi saṃvatsarān evaṃ sthitvā agniṣṭomaṃ yajeta | tataḥ sahasraṃ vṛṣabhān vā tāvatīr vā gāvo brāhmaṇebhyo dadyāt tataḥ śuddhyati |
ビーシュマは言った。「アートレーヤ（Ātreya）の系統に属する身重の女を殺せば、梵殺（brahma-hatyā――婆羅門殺し）の罪は二倍となる。ゆえに酒を飲んだ者は、節制して暮らすべきである――少食にし、梵行（brahmacarya）を守り、裸の地に臥す。かくして三年のあいだこの戒を保ったのち、アグニシュトーマ祭（Agniṣṭoma）を修し、さらに牡牛一千頭――あるいは同数の牝牛――を婆羅門たちに施せば、清浄を得る。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage frames certain harms—especially the killing of a pregnant woman—as producing compounded moral/ritual guilt, and it outlines a structured path of expiation: sustained self-restraint (diet, celibacy, austerity), followed by a Vedic sacrifice and substantial charitable giving to Brahmins, culminating in purification.
In the Śānti Parva’s dharma instruction, Bhishma is advising Yudhiṣṭhira on the consequences of grave transgressions and the prescribed penances. He states the intensified culpability in a specific killing and then describes a penance regimen for a liquor-drinker, ending with Agniṣṭoma and large-scale donation.