Shloka 58
Adhyāya 166: Kṛtaghna-doṣa (कृतघ्नदोषः) — the fault of ingratitude and the limits of expiation
श्वृवराहखरान् हत्वा शौद्रमेव व्रतं चरेत् मार्जारचाषमण्डूकान् काकं व्यालं च मूषिकम्
śvṛvarāhakhārān hatvā śūdram eva vrataṃ caret mārjāracāṣamaṇḍūkān kākaṃ vyālaṃ ca mūṣikam
ဘိဿမက မိန့်တော်မူသည်– «ဝက်တောနှင့် မြည်းကို သတ်မိလျှင် ရှူဒြ၏ ဝရတ (အကျင့်သတ်မှတ်ချက်) ကို ဆောင်ရမည်။ ထို့အတူ ကြောင်၊ စာရှ (cāṣa) ငှက်၊ ဖား၊ ကျီးကန်း၊ မြွေ၊ နှင့် ကြွက်ကို သတ်မိလျှင်လည်း ထိုနည်းတူ ဆောင်ရမည်»။
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse is a prescriptive rule framed as part of Bhīṣma’s dharma-instruction: it links specific acts (here, the killing of certain animals) with undertaking a particular observance (vrata) associated with the Śūdra. In context, such lines function as normative or expiatory injunctions within varṇa- and conduct-discussions, emphasizing regulated behavior and the idea that actions entail prescribed disciplines.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma after the war. This verse occurs within a didactic sequence of rules and observances, where Bhīṣma enumerates specific prescriptions—here listing animals and stating that after killing them one should undertake a stated vrata—reflecting the text’s broader concern with codifying conduct and consequences.