Shloka 53

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

Devanagari script

तथैव द्वादशसमा: कपाली ब्रह्महा भवेत्‌ । ब्रह्मचारी भवेन्नित्यं स्वकर्म ख्यापयन्‌ मुनि:

Transliteration

tathaiva dvādaśa-samāḥ kapālī brahmahā bhavet | brahmacārī bhaven nityaṃ svakarma khyāpayan muniḥ ||

Translation

அதேபோல் அவன் பன்னிரண்டு ஆண்டுகள் கபாலம் தாங்கும் துறவிபோல் வாழ வேண்டும்; அவன் பிராமணவதைப் பாவம் ஏற்றவன் எனக் கருதப்பட வேண்டும். அவன் எப்போதும் பிரம்மச்சாரியாக இருந்து, முனிவனாய் தன் செய்த செயலை (மற்றும் அதற்கான பரிகாரத்தை) வெளிப்படையாக அறிவிக்க வேண்டும்.

Word by Word

तथाthus

एवindeed/just

द्वादशtwelve

समाःyears

कपालीa skull-bearer (kapālin)

ब्रह्महाslayer of a brāhmaṇa

भवेत्would be/should become

ब्रह्मचारीcelibate student (brahmacārin)

भवेत्would be/should become

नित्यम्always

स्वकर्मone's own duty/action

ख्यापयन्proclaiming/making known

मुनिःsage

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

kapālī (skull-bearing ascetic)

brahmahā (brahmin-slayer)

muni (sage)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Grave wrongdoing requires sustained, disciplined expiation: adopting austere marks of penance (kapālī), maintaining lifelong-like restraint (brahmacarya during the vow), and honestly acknowledging one’s deed rather than concealing it.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhīṣma’s dharma-instruction during the Śānti Parva, he outlines a specific expiatory regimen for the sin of brahmin-slaying: a twelve-year skull-bearing ascetic observance combined with continual celibacy and public avowal of the act and the penance.