Shloka 3

दानपात्रापात्र-निर्णयः / Determining Worthy Gifts, Recipients, and Permissible Food

Devanagari script

प्रायश्षित्तकथा होषा भक्ष्याभक्ष्यविवर्जिता | कौतूहलानुप्रवणा हर्ष जनयतीव मे,भक्ष्य और अभक्ष्यसे रहित, उपवासस्वरूप प्रायश्चित्तकी यह चर्चा बड़ी उत्सुकता पैदा करनेवाली है। यह मेरे हृदयमें हर्ष-सा उत्पन्न कर रही है

Transliteration

Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca: Prāyaścittakathā hy eṣā bhakṣyābhakṣyavivarjitā | Kautūhalānupravāṇā harṣaṁ janayatīva me ||

Translation

Yudhiṣṭhira berkata: “Perbincangan tentang penebusan (prāyaścitta) ini—bebas daripada perdebatan tentang apa yang boleh atau tidak boleh dimakan—menarik fikiranku ke hadapan dengan rasa ingin tahu. Seolah-olah ia membangkitkan suatu kegembiraan dalam hatiku.”

Word by Word

प्रायश्चित्तकथाthe discourse about expiation

होषाthis

भक्ष्याभक्ष्यविवर्जिताdevoid of (rules of) edible and inedible (foods)

कौतूहलानुप्रवणाinclined toward curiosity

हर्षम्joy

जनयतिproduces, generates

इवas if

मेof me / for me

Speaker

युधिषछ्िर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Yudhiṣṭhira

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Yudhiṣṭhira values expiation as an inner ethical process, not merely a ritual centered on dietary rules; true prāyaścitta should cultivate clarity, restraint, and moral renewal.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva dialogue, Yudhiṣṭhira responds to a discourse on prāyaścitta, expressing that a treatment of penance not preoccupied with food-permitted/forbidden distinctions fills him with curiosity and a hopeful joy.