Shanti Parva Adhyaya 34 Shloka 5 - Mahabharata | Sanskrit | Vedapath

Vyasa

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Shloka 5

कालनिर्देशः शोकनिवारणं च

Instruction on Kāla and the Removal of Grief

Devanagari script

अवकीर्णी भवेद्‌ यश्नव द्विजातिवधकस्तथा । अतीर्थ ब्राह्मणस्त्यागी तीर्थे चाप्रतिपादक:

Transliteration

avakīrṇī bhaved yaśnava dvijātivadhakas tathā | atīrtha brāhmaṇastyāgī tīrthe cāpratipādakaḥ ||

Translation

व्यास उवाच—अवकीर्णी भवेद्यश्च द्विजातिवधकस्तथा। अतीर्थब्राह्मणस्त्यागी तीर्थे चाप्रतिपादकः—एते महापातकिनः; धर्मभङ्गात् प्रायश्चित्तं विधीयते।

Word by Word

अवकीर्णीone whose vow/continence is broken (fallen brahmacārin)

भवेत्would be / may become

यज्ञहन्destroyer of a sacrifice

द्विजाति-वधकःkiller of a twice-born (dvija)

तथाalso / likewise

अतीर्थःunfit (as a recipient); not a proper 'tīrtha' (worthy person)

ब्राह्मणःa brāhmaṇa

त्यागीone who gives up/abandons (here: neglects duty of giving)

तीर्थेin/with regard to a worthy recipient (tīrtha)

चand

अप्रतिपादकःone who does not bestow/does not give (to the worthy)

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vyāsa

Kuntīnandana (Arjuna, as addressed in the surrounding passage)

brāhmaṇa

dvija

tīrtha

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse classifies certain acts as grave breaches of dharma—breaking the brahmacarya vow, killing a dvija, neglecting a deserving brāhmaṇa, and failing to make due offerings at a tīrtha—implying that such wrongs require moral accountability and prāyaścitta (expiation).

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s instruction on righteous conduct, Vyāsa enumerates categories of serious sinners while advising Kuntī’s son (Arjuna in the broader context) about ethical transgressions and the need for expiatory discipline.