Shloka 21
कालनिर्देशः शोकनिवारणं च
Instruction on Kāla and the Removal of Grief
एतत् ते सर्वमाख्यातं कौन्तेयाभक्ष्यभक्षणम् । प्रायश्षित्तविधानेन सर्वमेतेन शुद्धयति,कुन्तीनन्दन! यही बात अन्य सब अभक्ष्यभक्षणोंके विषयमें भी कही गयी है। प्रायश्रित्त कर लेनेसे सब शुद्ध हो जाता है
etad te sarvam ākhyātaṃ kaunteyābhakṣyabhakṣaṇam | prāyaścittavidhānena sarvam etena śuddhyati, kuntīnandana ||
Vyāsa disse: “Ó filho de Kuntī, já te expliquei por completo a questão de comer o que é proibido. Pelo método prescrito de expiação (prāyaścitta), toda essa falta é purificada. O mesmo princípio se aplica a outros casos de consumir o que não deve ser consumido: uma vez realizada a expiação correta, a pessoa torna-se limpa novamente.”
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
That violations involving forbidden consumption (abhakṣya-bhakṣaṇa) are not treated as irrevocable: when one follows the properly prescribed prāyaścitta, the resulting impurity or fault is removed and one is restored to ritual and ethical cleanliness.
Vyāsa is instructing Kaunteya (Yudhiṣṭhira) within the didactic discourse of the Śānti Parva, summarizing that he has explained the rules about forbidden foods and emphasizing that expiation, performed according to rule, purifies such transgressions and similarly applies to other comparable cases.