Shloka 12

Devanagari script

अज्ञानात्‌ तु कृतां हिंसामहिंसा व्यपकर्षति । ब्राह्मणा: शास्त्रनिर्देशादित्याहुर्बग्रह्मयवादिन:,अनजानमें जो हिंसा हो जाती है उसे अहिंसा-व्रतका पालन दूर कर देता है। ब्रह्मवादी ब्राह्मण शास्त्रकी आज्ञाके अनुसार ऐसा ही कहते हैं; किंतु स्वेच्छासे किये हुए हिंसामय पापकर्मको अहिंसाका व्रत भी दूर नहीं कर सकता। ऐसा वेदशास्त्रोंके ज्ञाता, वेदका उपदेश देनेवाले ब्राह्मणोंका कथन है

Transliteration

ajñānāt tu kṛtāṃ hiṃsām ahiṃsā vyapakarṣati | brāhmaṇāḥ śāstra-nirdeśād ity āhur brahma-vādinaḥ |

Translation

Disse Parāśara: A violência (hiṃsā) cometida por ignorância é removida pela observância do voto de ahiṃsā (não-violência). Assim declaram, conforme às injunções das escrituras, os brâmanes sábios que falam de Brahman.

Word by Word

अज्ञानात्from ignorance; due to ignorance

तुbut; however

कृताम्done; committed

हिंसाम्violence; injury

अहिंसाnon-violence

व्यपकर्षतिremoves; drives away

ब्राह्मणाःBrahmins

शास्त्रनिर्देशात्from scriptural injunction

इतिthus

आहुःthey say

ब्रह्मवादिनःexpounders of Brahman/Veda; brahmavādins

Speaker

पराशर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Parāśara

brāhmaṇāḥ (Brahmin sages)

brahma-vādinaḥ (expounders of Brahman)

śāstra (scriptural authority)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

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.

What is happening in the narrative?

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.