Shloka 38
Babhruvāhana’s Lament and Appeal for Expiation (प्रायश्चित्त-याचना)
वीरं हि क्षत्रियं हत्वा गोशतेन प्रमुच्यते । पितरं तु निहत्यैवं दुर्लभा निष्कृतिर्मम,“किसी एक वीर क्षत्रियका वध करके विजेता वीर सौ गोदान करनेसे उस पापसे छुटकारा पाता है; परंतु पिताकी हत्या करके इस प्रकार उस पापसे छुटकारा मिल जाय, यह मेरे लिये सर्वथा दुर्लभ है
vīraṃ hi kṣatriyaṃ hatvā gośatena pramucyate | pitaraṃ tu nihatyaivaṃ durlabhā niṣkṛtir mama ||
“Sapagkat sa pagpatay sa isang magiting na kṣatriya, maaaring mapawi ang kasalanan sa pamamagitan ng pagtubos na isang daang handog na baka. Ngunit matapos mapatay ang sariling ama, na mapalaya sa gayon ding paraan—ang gayong pagtubos, para sa akin, ay napakahirap makamtan.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse contrasts degrees of moral transgression: even grave violence like killing a heroic warrior is presented as having a recognized expiation (a hundred cow-gifts), whereas killing one’s father is portrayed as a uniquely weighty sin whose atonement is extremely difficult.
Vaiśaṃpāyana reports a reflection on guilt and expiation: the speaker measures conventional ritual atonements for battlefield killing against the far more severe, socially and ethically catastrophic act of patricide, emphasizing the near-impossibility of cleansing that stain.