Shloka 50
Pratyakṣa–Āgama–Ācāra: Doubt, Proof, and the Practice of Dharma (प्रत्यक्ष–आगम–आचारविचारः)
अश्मना चरणोौ भित्त्वा गुह्॒ुकेषु स मोदते । साधयित्वा55त्मना>5>5त्मान निर्दधन्द्धो निष्परिग्रह:
aśmanā caraṇau bhittvā guhakeṣu sa modate | sādhayitvā ātmanā ātmānaṃ nirdvandvo niṣparigrahaḥ ||
Maheshvara sprach: „Hat er sich mit einem Stein die Füße gespalten und dann den Leib aufgegeben, so frohlockt er unter den Guhyakas. Wer sich zum Lebensunterhalt allein auf sich selbst stützt, frei wird von den Gegensätzen und ohne Besitz ist, übt zwölf Jahre lang eine gelobte Disziplin; und am Ende, indem er sich mit einem Stein die Füße durchbohrt und den Körper verlässt, erreicht er die Welt der Guhyakas und genießt dort Wonne.“
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse praises rigorous ascetic discipline: living with self-reliance, freedom from dualities, and non-possessiveness. Such sustained vow-observance is presented as producing a specific posthumous spiritual reward—attainment of the Guhyaka realm—highlighting the Mahabharata’s theme that inner restraint and renunciation can yield transcendent results.
Maheśvara describes the fate of an ascetic who completes a long vow (twelve years, per the accompanying gloss), lives without possessions and without being shaken by opposites, and finally relinquishes the body through an extreme act involving a stone and his feet. The narrative outcome is that he reaches the world of the Guhyakas and experiences joy there.