Shloka 53
Adhyāya 166: Kṛtaghna-doṣa (कृतघ्नदोषः) — the fault of ingratitude and the limits of expiation
तथैव द्वादशसमा: कपाली ब्रह्महा भवेत् । ब्रह्मचारी भवेन्नित्यं स्वकर्म ख्यापयन् मुनि:
tathaiva dvādaśa-samāḥ kapālī brahmahā bhavet | brahmacārī bhaven nityaṃ svakarma khyāpayan muniḥ ||
اسی طرح وہ بارہ برس تک کَپال دھاری تپسوی کی طرح رہے؛ اسے برہمن ہتیا کے گناہ کا مرتکب سمجھا جائے۔ وہ ہمیشہ برہمچاری رہے اور مُنی بن کر اپنے کیے ہوئے عمل (اور اس کے پرایَشچِت) کو علانیہ ظاہر کرے۔
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
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.
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.