Shloka 60
Vānaprastha-dharma and Tapas: Śiva–Umā Saṃvāda
Forest-Stage Discipline and Austerity
ब॒हस्पतिर्वाच प्रतिमेहन्ति ये सूर्यमनिलं द्विषते च ये । हव्यवाहे प्रदीप्ते च समिधं ये न जुह्नति
Bṛhaspatir uvāca: pratime hanti ye sūryam anilaṁ dviṣate ca ye | havyavāhe pradīpte ca samidhaṁ ye na juhvati ||
Bṛhaspati sprach: Wer ein Kultbild schlägt, wer Sonne und Wind schmäht, und wer, selbst wenn das Opferfeuer lichterloh brennt, keinen Samidh-Holzstab darbringt—solche Menschen handeln in Feindschaft gegen die heilige Ordnung des Dharma.
शक्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that irreverence toward sacred supports of life (Sun, Wind) and neglect of one’s ritual obligations (failing to offer samidh into the kindled fire) are forms of hostility to dharma; ethical life includes respect, gratitude, and disciplined observance.
In a didactic passage of the Anuśāsana Parva, Bṛhaspati enumerates blameworthy behaviors—striking an image, reviling cosmic deities like the Sun and Wind, and refusing offerings to the blazing fire—to warn against impiety and the abandonment of prescribed duties.