Shloka 34
Prāyaścitta and Contextual Non-Culpability (प्रायश्चित्त-निमित्त-अदोषवाद)
इस प्रकार श्रीमह्याभारत शान्तिपर्वके अन्तर्गत राजधर्मानुशासनपर्वमें प्रायक्षित्तके प्रकरणमें चौंतीसवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ
tiryagyoni-vadhaṁ kṛtvā drumāś chittvetarān bahūn | trirātraṁ vāyu-bhakṣaḥ syāt karma ca prathayan naraḥ ||
毗耶娑说：凡因杀害兽类与鸟类等众生，并砍伐许多树木而招致罪垢者，为求净化，当三日三夜以气为食，并公开宣告自己所作之非。此段将赎罪（忏悔）置于两端：一为身之克制，二为以坦白承担道德责任；其轻重当与对生命与环境所加之伤害相称。
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Harm done to living beings and to trees is treated as morally weighty; purification requires both austerity (three days and nights living only on air) and ethical transparency (openly disclosing the wrongdoing), emphasizing proportional penance and accountability.
In the prāyaścitta section of Śānti Parva, Vyāsa states a specific expiation for a person who has killed animals/birds and cut down many trees: undertake a three-day-and-night air-fast and publicly acknowledge the sinful act.