Shloka 11
परिव्राजक-आचारः (Conduct of the Wandering Renunciant) — Mahābhārata, Śānti-parva 269
संहत्य धर्म चरतां पुरा55सीत् सुखमेव तत् | तेषां नासीद् विधातवयं प्रायश्षित्तं कथंचन,वे आवश्यक नियमोंका यथावत् पालन करके पहले अपने चित्तको शुद्ध करते थे और कठिनाई तथा दुर्गम स्थानोंमें पड़ जानेपर भी परस्पर मिलकर धर्मानुष्ठानमें तत्पर रहते थे। संघ-बद्ध होकर धर्मानुष्ठान करनेवाले उन पूर्ववर्ती पुरुषोंको इसमें सुखका ही अनुभव होता था। उन्हें किसी प्रकारका प्रायक्षित्त करनेकी आवश्यकता नहीं पड़ती थी
saṁhatya dharmaṁ caratāṁ purā āsīt sukham eva tat | teṣāṁ nāsīd vidhātavyaṁ prāyaścittaṁ kathaṁcana ||
Kapila disse: “Antigamente, quando as pessoas praticavam o dharma em unidade, esse próprio modo de vida era experimentado como felicidade. Para os que viviam e agiam juntos na retidão, não havia necessidade alguma de prescrever expiação (prāyaścitta).”
कपिल उवाच
Educational Q&A
Kapila links moral health to social unity: when people collectively uphold dharma, life becomes naturally harmonious and joyful, and the need for expiatory measures (prāyaścitta) diminishes because serious transgressions are less likely to arise.
Kapila is describing an earlier ideal condition of society in which people practiced dharma together; he contrasts that with later times where moral lapses require formal prescriptions of atonement.