Shloka 74
Vānaprastha-dharma and Tapas: Śiva–Umā Saṃvāda
Forest-Stage Discipline and Austerity
वर्षासु दीपकैश्वैव 3438 36 णामनृणो भवेत् | नीले रंगके साँड़ छोड़नेसे, अमावास्याको तिलमिश्रित जलद्दारा तर्पण करनेसे और वर्षा-ऋतुमें पितरोंके लिये दीप देनेसे मनुष्य उनके ऋणसे मुक्त हो सकता है ।।
śakra uvāca | varṣāsu dīpakaiś caiva pitṝṇām anṛṇo bhavet | akṣayaṁ nirvyalīkaṁ ca dānam etan mahāphalam ||
Śakra said: By offering lamps to the Pitṛs during the rainy season, a person becomes free from the debt owed to the ancestors. This gift is inexhaustible in its merit, sincere and free from deceit, and it yields great spiritual fruit.
शक्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
One can discharge the ancestral obligation (pitṛ-ṛṇa) through sincere offerings—here, specifically by giving light (lamps) to the ancestors in the rainy season. Such dāna is praised as akṣaya (inexhaustible in merit) and nirvyalīka (free from hypocrisy), emphasizing both ritual act and inner integrity.
In Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction on dharma and gifts, Śakra (Indra) speaks about practices that please the Pitṛs and remove a person’s indebtedness to them. This verse highlights lamp-offerings during the monsoon as a particularly fruitful and ethically pure form of giving.