Shloka 31
Rudra-Śiva: Names, Two Natures, and the Logic of Epithets (रुद्रनाम-बहुरूपत्व-प्रकरणम्)
उपवास: सदा धर्मो ब्राह्मणस्य न संशय: । स हि धर्मार्थसम्पन्नो ब्रह्म भूयाय कल्पते
upavāsaḥ sadā dharmo brāhmaṇasya na saṁśayaḥ | sa hi dharmārthasampanno brahma bhūyāya kalpate ||
এতে সন্দেহ নেই যে ব্রাহ্মণের জন্য উপবাস—অর্থাৎ ইন্দ্রিয়সংযমের শৃঙ্খলা—সদাই ধর্ম। ধর্ম ও অর্থে সমৃদ্ধ সেই ব্রাহ্মণ ব্রহ্মভাব লাভের যোগ্য হয়।
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Upavāsa—taken not merely as abstaining from food but as sustained restraint of the senses—is presented as a constant dharma for a brāhmaṇa. When joined with dharma and artha in a righteous way of life, it qualifies one for Brahman-attainment.
Śrī Maheśvara is instructing about the ethical and spiritual discipline appropriate to a brāhmaṇa, emphasizing continual self-restraint as a religious duty and linking such disciplined living to eligibility for realizing Brahman.