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Mahānirvāṇa Tantra cover

॥ श्री ॥tantraFor reading

Mahānirvāṇa Tantra 11.20

Traditional

Ullāsas
14
Verses
2517
Minutes
1258
Level
advanced

Ullāsa 11 · Verse 20

कृतपापस्य राज्ञः दण्डविधानम्The punishment of a king who has sinned

Verse 20

स्वयं चेत् कृतपापः स्यात् पीड़येदकृतांहसः । उपवासैश्च दानैस्तान् परितोष्य विशुध्यति ॥ २० ॥

svayaṁ cēt kṛtapāpaḥ syāt pīḍayēdakṛtāṁhasaḥ | upavāsaiśca dānaistān paritōṣya viśudhyati || 20 ||

Translation

If he himself has sinned, or has punished the innocent, he is purified by fasting and by gifts that make amends to them.

Word by word

svayaṁ
himself
cēt
if
kṛta
done
pāpaḥ
(pāpaḥ) sin
syāt
he has
pīḍayēt
(pīḍayet) has punished
akṛtāṁhasaḥ
(akṛtāṁhasaḥ) the innocent
upavāsaiḥ
(upavāsaiḥ) by fasting
ca
and
dānaiḥ
(dānaiḥ) by gifts
tān
them
paritōṣya
making amends to
viśudhyati
he is purified

Meaning

The king must compensate those he wronged; the size of fast and gift follows the size of the fault.

Commentary

Hariharānanda Bhāratī’s Sanskrit commentary, translated

But how is a king purified who has himself sinned while punishing men who have done no wrong? To that he says "svayaṁ ced" and the rest. If the king himself has sinned, then he is purified by fasts and gifts. If he afflicts, punishes, others who have done no wrong, then by gifts having satisfied those innocent people, and by fasts and gifts, he is purified. Here the degree of fasting and giving is to be understood according to the degree of the sin.