Shloka 20

Prāyaścitta and Contextual Non-Culpability (प्रायश्चित्त-निमित्त-अदोषवाद)

Devanagari script

गुरुतल्पी शिलां तप्तामायसीमभिसंविशेत्‌ | अवकृत्यात्मन: शेफं प्रव्रजेदूर्ध्वदर्शन:

Transliteration

gurutalpī śilāṁ taptām āyasīm abhi-saṁviśet | avakṛtyātmanaḥ śephaṁ pravrajed ūrdhva-darśanaḥ ||

Translation

వ్యాసుడు పలికెను—గురుపత్నీ-శయ్యను అపవిత్రం చేసినవాడు మండిన ఇనుప పలకపై పడుకోవాలి; లేదా తన ఉపస్థాన్ని కోసుకొని, చూపును పైకి నిలిపి సన్యాసిగా ప్రవ్రజించాలి।

Word by Word

गुरुतल्पीone who violates the guru’s bed (i.e., commits adultery with the teacher’s wife)

शिलाम्a stone/slab

तप्ताम्heated, red-hot

आयसीम्made of iron

अभिसंविशेत्should enter/lie upon

अवकृत्यhaving cut off

आत्मनःof oneself

शेफम्penis

प्रव्रजेत्should go forth (as an ascetic), should depart

ऊर्ध्वदर्शनःwith gaze directed upward

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vyāsa

guru (teacher)

guru’s bed (gurutalpa)

heated iron slab (taptā āyasī śilā)

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?

The verse teaches that violating the sanctity of the guru’s household is among the gravest ethical breaches and demands extreme expiation; it emphasizes the seriousness of trust, self-control, and accountability within the guru–disciple relationship.

What is happening in the narrative?

In a dharma-discourse within Śānti Parva, Vyāsa states prescribed expiations for the ‘gurutalpa’ offense: either undergoing a lethal/near-lethal austerity (lying on a heated iron slab) or self-mutilation followed by renunciant wandering with an upward gaze, signaling withdrawal from worldly desire.