Shloka 38
Babhruvāhana’s Lament and Appeal for Expiation (प्रायश्चित्त-याचना)
वीरं हि क्षत्रियं हत्वा गोशतेन प्रमुच्यते । पितरं तु निहत्यैवं दुर्लभा निष्कृतिर्मम
vīraṃ hi kṣatriyaṃ hatvā gośatena pramucyate | pitaraṃ tu nihatyaivaṃ durlabhā niṣkṛtir mama ||
ਇੱਕ ਵੀਰ ਖ਼ਸ਼ਤਰੀ ਨੂੰ ਮਾਰਨ ਦਾ ਪਾਪ ਸੌ ਗੋ-ਦਾਨ ਨਾਲ ਉਤਰ ਜਾਂਦਾ ਹੈ; ਪਰ ਪਿਤਾ ਨੂੰ ਮਾਰ ਕੇ ਉਸੇ ਤਰ੍ਹਾਂ ਦੀ ਨਿਸ਼ਕ੍ਰਿਤੀ ਮਿਲ ਜਾਵੇ—ਇਹ ਮੇਰੇ ਲਈ ਬਹੁਤ ਹੀ ਦੁਲਭ ਹੈ।
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse contrasts degrees of moral transgression: even grave violence like killing a heroic warrior is presented as having a recognized expiation (a hundred cow-gifts), whereas killing one’s father is portrayed as a uniquely weighty sin whose atonement is extremely difficult.
Vaiśaṃpāyana reports a reflection on guilt and expiation: the speaker measures conventional ritual atonements for battlefield killing against the far more severe, socially and ethically catastrophic act of patricide, emphasizing the near-impossibility of cleansing that stain.