Shloka 15

Pratyakṣa–Āgama–Ācāra: Doubt, Proof, and the Practice of Dharma (प्रत्यक्ष–आगम–आचारविचारः)

Devanagari script

अष्टमीयज्ञपरता चातुर्मास्यनिषेवणम्‌ । पौर्णमासादयो यज्ञा नित्ययज्ञस्तथैव च

Transliteration

aṣṭamīyajñaparatā cāturmāsyaniṣevaṇam | paurṇamāsādayo yajñā nityayajñas tathaiva ca ||

Translation

قال مهاديڤا: «أما للڤانابراستها (vānaprastha)، ناسكِ الغابة، فهذه هي الرياضة اللائقة: أن يلازم قربان الأَشْتَمي (Aṣṭamī)—وهو طقس الأَشْتَكا (Aṣṭakā) المقام في اليوم القمري الثامن—وأن يلتزم نذور الفصول في التشاتورماسيا (Cāturmāsya)، وأن يواظب على الشعائر التي تبدأ بقرابين البورناماسا (Paurṇamāsa)، مع الذبائح اليومية الواجبة. وبهذا تغدو الثباتُ على الدharma والعبادةُ المنظَّمة أساسَ أخلاق حياة الڤانابراستها.»

Word by Word

• अष्टमी-यज्ञ-परता: devotion/absorption in the Aṣṭamī-sacrifice
• अष्टमी-यज्ञ-परता: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: परता (पर)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• चातुर्मास्य-निषेवणम्: observance/practice of the Cāturmāsya (rites/vow)
• चातुर्मास्य-निषेवणम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: निषेवण (निष्+सेव्)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• पौर्णमास-आदयः: Paurṇamāsa and the others (beginning with it)
• पौर्णमास-आदयः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: आदि
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• यज्ञाः: sacrifices
• यज्ञाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: यज्ञ
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• नित्य-यज्ञः: the daily/regular sacrifice
• नित्य-यज्ञः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: यज्ञ
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• तथा: and likewise
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

• एव: indeed/just
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

Speaker

श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Śrīmahādeva (Maheśvara)
• Aṣṭamī (tithi)
• Cāturmāsya (vow/observance)
• Paurṇamāsa (rite)
• Nitya-yajña (daily rites)
• Vānaprastha (forest-dweller stage of life)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse defines vānaprastha-dharma as disciplined continuity in sacred obligations: observing periodic vows (Cāturmāsya), performing calendrical rites (like Paurṇamāsa), and maintaining daily worship/sacrifice (nitya-yajña). Ethical life here is framed as steadiness, restraint, and fidelity to prescribed duty.

What is happening in the narrative?

Maheśvara is instructing about the duties of the forest-dweller stage of life. Rather than describing an external event, the passage lists the ritual and vow-based practices that constitute the vānaprastha’s regulated religious routine.