Shloka 2
अत्रेः तपोबलप्रकाशः तथा च्यवनस्य सोमाधिकारः
Atri’s Illumination by Tapas; Cyavana and Soma-Entitlement
ब्राह्मणानां विशेषेण हव्यकव्यप्रतिग्रहे । नानाविधेषु भोज्येषु प्रायश्चित्तानि शंस मे
Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca |
brāhmaṇānāṁ viśeṣeṇa havyakavyapratigrahe |
nānāvidheṣu bhojyeṣu prāyaścittāni śaṁsa me ||
Sinabi ni Yudhiṣṭhira: “Lalo na sa mga brahmin, na kailangang tumanggap ng mga handog para sa mga diyos (havis) at para sa mga ninuno (kavya), at maaaring mapaharap sa sari-saring pagkain, anu-ano ang mga itinakdang prāyaścitta o mga pag-aalis-kasalanan? Ipaalam mo sa akin.”
युधिषछ्िर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames an ethical-ritual dilemma: brahmins, by duty, receive sacrificial and ancestral offerings and may encounter diverse foods; Yudhiṣṭhira asks what prāyaścitta (expiation) applies when such necessary acceptance risks impurity or fault. The focus is on reconciling livelihood/ritual roles with standards of purity and dharma.
In Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction setting, Yudhiṣṭhira questions the authority figure teaching dharma about the proper expiations for brahmins who accept havya and kavya and partake of various foods—situations that can create doubt about sin, contamination, or improper acceptance.