Shloka 47
Prāyaścitta and Contextual Non-Culpability (प्रायश्चित्त-निमित्त-अदोषवाद)
नास्तिकाश्रद्दधानेषु पुरुषेषु कदाचन । दम्भद्वेषप्रधानेषु विधिरेष न दृश्यते,जिनमें दम्भ और द्वेषकी प्रधानता है, उन नास्तिक और श्रद्धाहीन पुरुषोंके लिये कभी ऐसे प्रायक्षित्तका विधान नहीं देखा जाता है
nāstikāśraddadhāneṣu puruṣeṣu kadācana | dambhadveṣapradhāneṣu vidhireṣa na dṛśyate ||
毗耶娑说道：对于无神而无信之人——尤其是虚伪与憎恨占据其心者——从未见有此等法则：并无真正适用于他们的规定赎罪。其义在于：忏悔与赎罪唯在真诚、可受教、愿自新之处方有意义；若内心为敌意与伪饰所主宰，仪式之药亦无从生根。
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Expiation (prāyaścitta) is not merely a ritual mechanism; it presupposes faith, honesty, and a genuine intention to reform. Where atheism, lack of faith, hypocrisy, and hatred dominate, the tradition does not recognize an effective ordinance of atonement, because the inner condition required for moral repair is absent.
In the Śānti Parva’s dharma-discourse, Vyāsa states a limiting principle about prāyaścitta: certain dispositions—especially disbelief, faithlessness, hypocrisy, and malice—make a person unfit for the intended transformative function of expiatory rules.