Shloka 226
Ādi Parva, Adhyāya 47 — Janamejaya’s Sarpa-satra: Vow, Preparation, and the Onset of the Serpent Offering
संध्या प्रवर्तते चेयं पश्चिमायां दिशि प्रभो । “भगवन्! आप संयमपूर्वक आचमन करके संध्योपासन कीजिये। अब अग्निहोत्रकी बेला हो रही है। यह मुहूर्त धर्मका साधन होनेके कारण अत्यन्त रमणीय जान पड़ता है। इसमें भूत आदि प्राणी विचरते हैं, अत: भयंकर भी है। प्रभो! पश्चिम दिशामें संध्या प्रकट हो रही है--उधरका आकाश लाल हो रहा है”
sandhyā pravartate ceyaṁ paścimāyāṁ diśi prabho | bhagavan āpa saṁyamapūrvakam ācamana kṛtvā sandhyopāsanaṁ kījiye | adya agnihotrakī velā bhavati | ayaṁ muhūrto dharmasādhanaḥ san atyantaṁ ramaṇīyo jānīyate | asmin bhūtādayaḥ prāṇino vicaranti, ataḥ bhayaṅkaro 'pi | prabho paścima-diśi sandhyā prakaṭā bhavati—tatra ākāśaṁ lohitaṁ bhavati ||
قال تَكشَكَ (Takṣaka): «يا مولاي، إن شفق المساء قد أخذ يظهر في الجهة الغربية. أيها المبجَّل، تفضّل فأدِّ الآچَمَنَة (ācamana) بضبط النفس، وانهض لعبادة السَّندْهيا (Sandhyā). لقد دنا وقت الأَغْنِيهوترا (Agnihotra). إن هذه اللحظة المباركة—لأنها وسيلة لإقامة الدارما—تبدو بهيجةً للغاية؛ غير أنها مخيفة أيضًا، إذ يُقال إن الأرواح (bhūta) وسائر الكائنات تجوب في هذا الوقت. يا مولاي، لقد تجلّى الشفق في الغرب—والسماء هناك تحمرّ.»
तक्षक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage underscores dharma as disciplined daily practice: self-restraint (saṁyama), purification (ācamana), and timely performance of prescribed rites (Sandhyā and Agnihotra). It also conveys that liminal times like twilight can be both auspicious for dharma and psychologically/spiritually charged, calling for heightened vigilance and purity.
Takṣaka addresses a revered person, noting that evening has arrived in the west and urging him to perform ācamana and begin Sandhyā worship, as the time for the Agnihotra is near. He describes the twilight moment as beautiful and dharma-supporting, yet also fearsome because beings such as bhūtas are believed to roam then, and he points to the reddening western sky.