Shloka 7
कालनिर्देशः शोकनिवारणं च
Instruction on Kāla and the Removal of Grief
स्त्रीशूद्रवधको यश्न पूर्व: पूर्वस्तु गर्हित: । यथा पशुसमालम्भी गृहदाहस्य कारक:
strīśūdravadhako yajñaḥ pūrvaḥ pūrvastu garhitaḥ | yathā paśusamālambhī gṛhadāhasya kārakaḥ ||
व्यास उवाच—स्त्रीशूद्रवधकः पापी पूर्वः पूर्वस्तु गर्हितः। तथा पशुसमालम्भी गृहदाहस्य कारकः—एतेऽपि महापातकिनः।
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames certain acts—especially killing protected persons (women and Śūdras), animal-slaughter, and arson—as morally censurable, and it signals a graded evaluation of wrongdoing (with earlier-listed offenses treated as more blameworthy). It supports the broader Śānti-parvan discussion that dharma includes ethical limits on violence and that grave transgressions require recognition and expiation.
In Śānti Parva, Vyāsa instructs the listener (in the wider context, Kuntī’s son) on dharma by listing and classifying serious sins. This verse is one link in that catalogue, highlighting condemned forms of violence and comparing them to other notorious crimes such as burning another’s house.