12.146
Yudhishthira said.
O best of the Bharatas, please tell me how one who commits a sin without prior understanding is released from that sin.
Bhīṣma said.
Here, I will narrate to you the ancient history that the sage Śaunaka, descendant of Indrota, told to Janamejaya.
There was a mighty king named Janamejaya, descendant of Parikṣit. Unknowingly, the sin of killing a Brahmin befell him.
All the brāhmaṇas, along with the family priest, abandoned him. The king, burning with grief, went to the forest day and night.
Abandoned by his subjects, he performed a great auspicious act. Burning with anger, he practiced severe austerities to an excessive degree.
There, I will narrate the history that augments this dharma. Tormented by his sinful deed, Janamejaya departed.
As the rain was about to fall, Indrota, the Śaunaka of firm vows, approached and seized his feet, pressing them closely.
Then, being afraid, the very wise one severely censured, saying at that time: "Why has the killer of the embryo, the doer of great sin, come here?"
What business do you have with us? Do not touch us in any way. Go away, go away; there is certainly no place here that pleases us.
Your scent is like blood, your appearance like a corpse; you are inauspicious though you seem auspicious, dead though you appear alive, and you dwell thus.
With inner death and an impure self, always thinking only of sin, you awaken, sleep, exist, and move about, thinking yourself happy.
O king, your life is in vain and you live in affliction. Indeed, you are created for evil deeds and for even worse actions.
Fathers, wishing for the great welfare of their sons, strive through penance, worship of the gods, reverence, and endurance.
Behold this ancestral line—because of you, it has gone to hell. All their bonds of hope, which depend on you, are now rendered useless.
Hatred towards Brāhmaṇas, whom people worship and thereby attain heaven, long life, fame, and happiness, is always useless.
Having abandoned this world, you will fall head downward. Because of sinful actions, you will experience both fleeting and endless years of suffering.
While being devoured by creature-vultures with white throats and iron beaks, even after returning from there, you will again enter a sinful birth.
O king, if you think this is not so, then where is another? The messengers of Yama will remind you at the abode of Yama.
