Shloka 45
Prāyaścitta and Contextual Non-Culpability (प्रायश्चित्त-निमित्त-अदोषवाद)
जानता तु कृतं॑ पापं गुरु सर्व भवत्युत । अज्ञानात् स्वल्पको दोष: प्रायश्षित्तं विधीयते
jānatā tu kṛtaṃ pāpaṃ guru sarvaṃ bhavaty uta | ajñānāt svalpako doṣaḥ prāyaścittaṃ vidhīyate ||
جان بوجھ کر کیا ہوا گناہ سراسر سنگین ہوتا ہے؛ اور نادانی سے سرزد ہو تو اس کا الزام نسبتاً کم ہوتا ہے۔ اسی لیے جرم کی سنگینی یا ہلکے پن کے مطابق کفّارہ مقرر کیا گیا ہے۔
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Moral weight depends strongly on intention and awareness: deliberate wrongdoing is treated as a grave sin, while faults arising from ignorance carry lesser culpability; accordingly, expiations (prāyaścitta) are graded to match the severity.
In the didactic discourse of the Śānti Parva, Vyāsa states a principle for ethical and legal-religious judgment: how to assess wrongdoing and determine appropriate atonement based on whether the act was done knowingly or out of ignorance.