Shloka 3
Sanatsujāta–Dhṛtarāṣṭra Saṃvāda: Pramāda as Mṛtyu
Chapter 42
धृतराष्ट उवाच ऋचो यजूषि यो वेद सामवेदं च वेद यः । पापानि कुर्वन् पापेन लिप्यते कि न लिप्यते,धृतराष्ट्र बोले--विद्वन्! जो ऋग्वेद, यजुर्वेद और सामवेदको जानता है तथा पाप करता है, वह उस पापसे लिप्त होता है या नहीं?
dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca | ṛco yajūṃṣi yo veda sāmavedaṃ ca veda yaḥ | pāpāni kurvan pāpena lipyate kiṃ na lipyate ||
ധൃതരാഷ്ട്രൻ പറഞ്ഞു—ഹേ പണ്ഡിതനേ! ഋഗ്വേദവും യജുര്വേദവും സാമവേദവും അറിയുന്നവൻ പാപകർമ്മങ്ങൾ ചെയ്താൽ, അവൻ ആ പാപത്തിൽ ലിപ്തനാകുമോ, അല്ലയോ?
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames an ethical problem central to dharma: mere scriptural learning (even mastery of the Vedas) does not automatically confer moral purity; the question probes whether wrongdoing still produces moral stain (pāpa) despite knowledge.
In the Udyoga Parva’s deliberative setting before the great war, Dhṛtarāṣṭra questions a learned interlocutor about accountability: if a highly learned person commits sin, is he still bound and tainted by it, or does learning exempt him?