Shloka 34
अज्ञान–लोभयोः परस्परहेतुत्वम्
Mutual Causality of Ignorance and Greed
ब॒हस्पतिरुवाच कृत्वा पापं पूर्वमबुद्धिपूर्व पुण्यानि चेत्कुरुते बुद्धिपूर्वम् । स तत् पापं नुदते कर्मशीलो वासो यथा मलिने क्षारयुक्तम्
bṛhaspatir uvāca—kṛtvā pāpaṃ pūrvam abuddhipūrvam puṇyāni cet kurute buddhipūrvam | sa tat pāpaṃ nudate karmaśīlo vāso yathā maline kṣārayuktam ||
बृहस्पती म्हणाले—एखाद्या पुरुषाने पूर्वी अज्ञानाने पाप केले आणि नंतर समजून-उमजून पुण्यकर्मांचे आचरण केले, तर तो सत्कर्मनिष्ठ पुरुष त्या पापाला तसेच दूर करतो, जसे क्षार (सोडा/साबण) लावल्याने मळलेले वस्त्र स्वच्छ होते।
शौनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
Unintentional wrongdoing can be counteracted by deliberate, discerning performance of meritorious actions; sustained righteous conduct has a cleansing effect on prior sin, like a cleanser removing stains from cloth.
In the didactic discourse of Śānti Parva, Bṛhaspati offers a moral principle: when a person who once sinned in ignorance later knowingly commits to virtuous deeds, those good actions dispel the earlier fault, illustrated through the everyday image of washing a stained garment with alkali.