Shloka 44
अव्यक्तकालमान-निर्णयः
Measures of Time from the Unmanifest; Creation, Elements, and the Primacy of Mind
हंस उवाच स्वाध्याय एषां देवत्वं व्रतं साधुत्वमुच्यते । असाधुत्वं परीवादो मृत्युमनुष्यमुच्यते
haṁsa uvāca | svādhyāya eṣāṁ devatvaṁ vrataṁ sādhutvam ucyate | asādhutvaṁ parīvādo mṛtyum anuṣyam ucyate ||
Хамса сказал: «Для этих брахманов свадхьяя — изучение и чтение Вед — и есть их “божественность”. Соблюдение обетов называется их добродетелью и святостью. Злословие о других объявляется их недобродетелью; а подверженность смерти — их человеческим уделом».
हंस उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse defines a moral hierarchy for Brahmin conduct: Vedic self-study is their true ‘divinity’, disciplined observance of vows is their saintliness, slander is their moral downfall, and mortality marks their human limitation.
In the didactic setting of Śānti Parva, the Haṃsa speaks as a teacher, offering concise ethical definitions—praising svādhyāya and vrata as ideals while condemning parīvāda (slander) and reminding that all remain subject to death.