Shloka 4
शकुनि (हिरण्मय-पक्षी) उपदेशः — Vighasāśin and the Difficulty of Gārhasthya
तानाबभाषे भगवान् पक्षी भूत्वा हिरण्मय: । सुदुष्करं मनुष्यैश्व यत् कृतं विघसाशिभि:
tān ābabhāṣe bhagavān pakṣī bhūtvā hiraṇmayaḥ | suduṣkaraṃ manuṣyaiś ca yat kṛtaṃ vighasāśibhiḥ ||
In der Gestalt eines strahlenden, goldenen Vogels redete der Erhabene zu ihnen: „Was jene edlen Männer vollbracht haben, die von den Resten des Opfers leben, ist für gewöhnliche Menschen überaus schwer zu tun. Ihr Wandel reinigt, und ihre Lebensweise ist vortrefflich; dem Dharma ergeben, haben sie ihr Ziel erfüllt und den höchsten Weg erreicht.“
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse praises disciplined, dharma-centered living: those who sustain themselves on what remains after sacrificial offering (vighasa) embody restraint and purity, and such conduct—hard for most people—leads to fulfilled aims and an elevated spiritual destiny.
A divine being appears in the striking guise of a radiant golden bird and addresses a group, commending the exceptional difficulty and sanctity of the practice followed by those who eat only sacrificial remnants, and affirming their successful attainment of a higher state.