Shloka 51

Adhyāya 166: Kṛtaghna-doṣa (कृतघ्नदोषः) — the fault of ingratitude and the limits of expiation

Devanagari script

नैर्कतीं दिशमास्थाय निपतेत्‌ स त्वजिह्मृग: । ब्राह्मणार्थेडपि वा प्राणान्‌ संत्यजेत्‌ तेन शुद्धयति,अथवा अपने शिश्न और अण्डकोषको स्वयं ही काटकर अगज्जलिमें लेकर सीधे नैरऋत्य-दिशाकी ओर जाता हुआ गिर पड़े या ब्राह्मणके लिये प्राणोंका परित्याग कर दे तो शुद्ध हो जाता है

Transliteration

nairṛtīṁ diśam āsthāya nipatet sa tv ajihmṛgaḥ | brāhmaṇārthe ’pi vā prāṇān saṁtyajet tena śuddhyati |

Translation

நைர்ருதி திசையை நோக்கி வஞ்சமின்றி நேர்மையாகச் சென்று அங்கே விழுந்தாலும், அல்லது ஒரு பிராமணனுக்காக உயிரையும் துறந்தாலும்—அதனால் அவன் தூய்மையடைகிறான்.

Word by Word

नैर्ऋतीम्the Nairṛti (south-western) direction

दिशम्direction

आस्थायhaving resorted to / having taken (as one’s course)

निपतेत्should fall down

सःhe

त्वजिह्मृगःone who is (so described as) 'tvajihmṛga' (textually uncertain epithet)

ब्राह्मणार्थेfor the sake of a Brahmin

अपिeven / also

वाor

प्राणान्life-breaths / life

संत्यजेत्should abandon / should give up

तेनby that / thereby

शुद्ध्यतिbecomes purified

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma

Brahmana

Nairriti (as the southwest quarter)

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?

Bhīṣma presents extreme forms of expiation: purification can be attained through uncompromising sincerity and self-sacrifice, especially when one gives up life for the protection or welfare of a brāhmaṇa.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s dharma-discourse, Bhīṣma is describing acts regarded as powerful atonements—going toward the south‑western quarter and falling down (a ritualized self-offering), or sacrificing one’s life for a brāhmaṇa—as means to remove grave impurity.