Shloka 12
Akṣara–Kṣara Viveka: Vasiṣṭha–Karāla-Janaka Saṃvāda (अक्षर-क्षर विवेकः)
अज्ञानात् तु कृतां हिंसामहिंसा व्यपकर्षति । ब्राह्मणा: शास्त्रनिर्देशादित्याहुर्बग्रह्मयवादिन:
ajñānāt tu kṛtāṃ hiṃsām ahiṃsā vyapakarṣati | brāhmaṇāḥ śāstra-nirdeśād ity āhur brahma-vādinaḥ |
ਅਗਿਆਨ ਵਸ਼ ਹੋਈ ਹਿੰਸਾ ਨੂੰ ਅਹਿੰਸਾ-ਵ੍ਰਤ ਦਾ ਪਾਲਣ ਦੂਰ ਕਰ ਦਿੰਦਾ ਹੈ—ਸ਼ਾਸਤ੍ਰ ਦੇ ਨਿਰਦੇਸ਼ ਅਨੁਸਾਰ ਬ੍ਰਹਮਵਾਦੀ ਬ੍ਰਾਹਮਣ ਇਉਂ ਕਹਿੰਦੇ ਹਨ।
पराशर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Moral accountability depends on intention: harm done unknowingly can be cleansed through the discipline of ahiṃsā and related expiatory conduct, as taught by śāstra; deliberate violence is ethically heavier and is not annulled merely by adopting a vow afterward.
In Śānti Parva’s dharma-discourse, Parāśara instructs on the ethics of non-violence and expiation, citing the consensus of scripturally grounded Brahmin sages about how unintentional harm may be remedied.