Shloka 38

Adhyāya 166: Kṛtaghna-doṣa (कृतघ्नदोषः) — the fault of ingratitude and the limits of expiation

Devanagari script

एतानि हित्वातो<न्यानि निर्देश्यानीति भारत । निर्देश्यानेन विधिना कालेनाव्यसनी भवेत्‌,भरतनन्दन! उपर्युक्त पाप अनिर्देश्य (प्रायश्चित्त-रहित) कहे गये हैं। इन्हें छोड़कर और जितने पाप हैं, वे निर्देश्य हैं--शास्त्रमें उनका प्रायश्चित्त बताया गया है। उसके अनुसार प्रायक्षित्त करके पापका व्यसन छोड़ देना चाहिये

Transliteration

etāni hitvāto 'nyāni nirdeśyānīti bhārata | nirdeśyānena vidhinā kālenāvyasanī bhavet, bharatanandana ||

Translation

Bhishma disse: “Ó Bharata, à parte estes pecados já mencionados, que devem ser postos de lado como ‘inexpiáveis’, todos os demais pecados são ‘expiáveis’—as escrituras prescrevem para eles as devidas penitências. Cumprindo a expiação estabelecida e, com o tempo, a pessoa deve libertar-se do hábito do pecado, ó alegria dos Bharatas.”

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'etāni', 'definition': 'these (sins/actions just mentioned)'}, {'term': 'hitvā', 'definition': 'having abandoned, setting aside'}, {'term': 'anyāni', 'definition': 'other (sins/actions)'}, {'term': 'nirdeśyāni', 'definition': 'those that are ‘prescribable/definable’—i.e., for which scripture prescribes a remedy/atonement'}, {'term': 'nirdeśyānena vidhinā', 'definition': 'by the prescribed rule/method (of expiation) indicated in śāstra'}, {'term': 'kālena', 'definition': 'in time, in due course (after proper performance and passage of time)'}, {'term': 'avyasanī', 'definition': 'free from vice/addiction

• not given to sinful habit'}, {'term': 'bhārata', 'definition': 'O descendant of Bharata (address to Yudhiṣṭhira)'}, {'term': 'bharatanandana', 'definition': 'O joy of the Bharatas (honorific address)'}]

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Bhārata (Yudhiṣṭhira)
• Bharatanandana (Yudhiṣṭhira)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhishma distinguishes between sins that are ‘non-expiable’ (anirdeśya) and those for which scripture prescribes expiation (nirdeśya). For expiable faults, one should follow the śāstric method of atonement so that, over time, the tendency toward sin is abandoned.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s dharma instruction, Bhishma continues advising Yudhiṣṭhira on moral law and purification. Having listed certain grave acts as beyond ordinary expiation, he now states that the remaining sins have prescribed remedies and should be corrected through proper prāyaścitta and reform of conduct.