Shloka 8

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

Devanagari script

योगचर्याकृतैः: सिद्धै: कामक्रोधविवर्जिति: । वीरशय्यामुपासद्धिर्वीरस्थानोपसेविभि:,उन्हें योगका अभ्यास करके उसमें सिद्धि प्राप्त करनी चाहिये। काम और क्रोधको त्याग देना चाहिये। वीरासनसे बैठकर वीरस्थान (विशाल और घने जंगल) में निवास करने चाहिये

Transliteration

śrīmaheśvara uvāca | yogacaryākṛtaiḥ siddhaiḥ kāmakrodhavivarjitaiḥ | vīraśayyām upāsadbhiḥ vīrasthānopasevibhiḥ ||

Translation

Śrī Maheśvara sprach: „Man soll die Disziplin des Yoga auf sich nehmen und durch anhaltende Übung darin Vollendung erlangen. Begehren und Zorn sind aufzugeben. In der Haltung vīrāsana gefestigt und das strenge ‚Heldenlager‘ annehmend, soll man in heroischen Orten wohnen—weiten, dichten Wäldern—und Standhaftigkeit, Zügelung und innere Meisterschaft kultivieren.“

Word by Word

योगचर्याby yogic practice

कृतैःdone/performed

सिद्धैःby the accomplished/adepts

कामक्रोधविवर्जितैःby those free from desire and anger

वीरशय्याम्the hero’s bed (austere couch/bed)

उपासद्भिःby those who sit near/attend upon (practice)

वीरस्थानोपसेविभिःby those who resort to/serve the वीरस्थान (heroic place; wilderness/forest)

Speaker

श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Śrī Maheśvara (Śiva)

Yoga (as a discipline)

Vīrāsana (hero’s posture)

Vīraśayyā (hero’s bed)

Vīrasthāna (heroic place; forest wilderness)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches yogic discipline grounded in ethical purification: practice yoga to attain steadiness and accomplishment, and specifically abandon desire (kāma) and anger (krodha). It further recommends an austere lifestyle—posture, restraint, and dwelling in remote wilderness—to strengthen self-mastery.

What is happening in the narrative?

Śrī Maheśvara is instructing a listener on the practical regimen of a yogin/ascetic: how to live, what inner faults to renounce, and what kind of environment and bodily discipline support spiritual attainment.