Devanagari
क्वचिन्निवर्ततेऽभद्रात्क्वचिच्चरति तत्पुन: ।
प्रायश्चित्तमथोऽपार्थं मन्ये कुञ्जरशौचवत् ॥ १० ॥
Verse text
kvacin nivartate ’bhadrāt
kvacic carati tat punaḥ
prāyaścittam atho ’pārthaṁ
manye kuṣjara-śaucavat
Synonyms
kvacit
—
sometimes
;
nivartate
—
ceases
;
abhadrāt
—
from sinful activity
;
kvacit
—
sometimes
;
carati
—
commits
;
tat
—
that (sinful activity)
;
punaḥ
—
again
;
prāyaścittam
—
the process of atonement
;
atho
—
therefore
;
apārtham
—
useless
;
manye
—
I consider
;
kuṣjara
—
śaucavat — exactly like the bathing of an elephant .
Translation
Sometimes one who is very alert so as not to commit sinful acts is victimized by sinful life again. I therefore consider this process of repeated sinning and atoning to be useless. It is like the bathing of an elephant, for an elephant cleanses itself by taking a full bath, but then throws dust over its head and body as soon as it returns to the land.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
After withdrawing from sin one commits the sin again. I think atonement is useless, like an elephant bathing.
Sometimes in youth one refrains from sin, but again one commits the sin in old age. Therefore atonement is useless. The elephant after bathing dirties himself with dust.
Purport
When Parīkṣit Mahārāja inquired how a human being could free himself from sinful activities so as not to be forced to go to hellish planetary systems after death, Śukadeva Gosvāmī answered that the process of counteracting sinful life is atonement. In this way Śukadeva Gosvāmī tested the intelligence of Mahārāja Parīkṣit, who passed the examination by refusing to accept this process as genuine. Now Parīkṣit Mahārāja is expecting another answer from his spiritual master, Śukadeva Gosvāmī.