Shloka 20
Pratyakṣa–Āgama–Ācāra: Doubt, Proof, and the Practice of Dharma (प्रत्यक्ष–आगम–आचारविचारः)
देवि! यह मैंने तुम्हारे निकट विस्तारयुक्त एवं मंगलमय वानप्रस्थधर्मका स्थूलभावसे वर्णन किया है ।। उमोवाच भगवन् सर्वभूतेश सर्वभूतनमस्कृत । यो धर्मो मुनिसंघस्य सिद्धिवादेषु तं वद
devi! yad ahaṁ tava nikaṭe vistārayuktaṁ ca maṅgalamayaṁ vānaprasthadharmaṁ sthūlabhāvena varṇitaṁ. umovāca: bhagavan sarvabhūteśa sarvabhūtanamaskṛta, yo dharmo munisaṅghasya siddhivādeṣu taṁ vada.
Maheshvara sprach: „Göttin, ich habe dir—ausführlich und glückverheißend—die Zucht des Waldbewohners (vānaprastha) erklärt und sie in ihren großen Umrissen dargestellt.“ Uma erwiderte: „O Bhagavan, Herr aller Wesen, von allen Wesen verehrt—sage mir jenen Dharma, der den Versammlungen der Weisen eigen ist, wie er in ihren Lehren über geistige Vollendung erörtert wird.“
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse marks a transition: Shiva concludes his broad, auspicious exposition of vānaprastha-dharma, and Uma requests a further, more specialized teaching—namely the dharma upheld by sages in discussions of siddhi (spiritual accomplishment). It frames dharma as both ethical discipline (life-stage duties) and a pathway toward higher realization.
In Anuśāsana Parva, a didactic dialogue unfolds between Maheśvara and Umā. Here Shiva signals completion of one topic (the forest-dweller’s code), and Uma respectfully addresses him with epithets (“Lord of all beings”) and asks him to explain the sages’ dharma connected with teachings on attaining siddhi.