Shloka 45

Prāyaścitta-vidhāna: Tapas, Dāna, Vrata, and Proportional Expiation (प्रायश्चित्तविधानम्)

Devanagari script

निष्कारणं स्मृतं दत्तं ब्राह्मणे ब्रह्म॒वर्जिते । भवेदपात्रदोषेण न चात्रास्ति विचारणा,“वेदविहीन ब्राह्मणोंको दिया हुआ दान अपात्रदोषसे निरर्थक हो जाता है, इसमें कोई विचार करनेकी बात नहीं है

Transliteration

niṣkāraṇaṃ smṛtaṃ dattaṃ brāhmaṇe brahma-varjite | bhaved apātra-doṣeṇa na cātrāsti vicāraṇā ||

Translation

ทานที่ให้โดยไร้เหตุอันควรแก่พราหมณ์ผู้ปราศจากวิชชาศักดิ์สิทธิ์ ย่อมถูกจดจำว่าไร้ผล ด้วยโทษแห่งการให้แก่ผู้ไม่สมควร จึงไม่บังเกิดผล—ข้อนี้ไม่ต้องไตร่ตรอง

Word by Word

निष्कारणम्causelessly; without valid cause (i.e., ineffective)

स्मृतम्is declared/remembered (as)

दत्तम्a gift given; donation

ब्राह्मणेin/with regard to a Brahmin (recipient)

ब्रह्मवर्जितेdevoid of Veda/Brahman (i.e., Veda-less)

भवेत्would become

अपात्रदोषेणby the fault of an unworthy recipient

नnot

चand

अत्रhere; in this matter

अस्तिis

विचारणाconsideration; deliberation

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vyāsa

brāhmaṇa

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Charity must be guided by discernment about the recipient’s worthiness (pātratā). A gift given indiscriminately to one lacking sacred learning is said to lose its spiritual efficacy due to the fault of giving to an unworthy recipient (apātra-doṣa).

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s dharma-instructional discourse, Vyāsa states a rule about dāna: offerings made to a brāhmaṇa who is ‘brahma-varjita’ (without Vedic/sacred qualification) are considered fruitless, and he presents this as a settled principle not requiring further debate.