Shloka 113
Rudra-Śiva: Names, Two Natures, and the Logic of Epithets (रुद्रनाम-बहुरूपत्व-प्रकरणम्)
विषयभोगोंसे निवृत्त रहना, गोरसका आहार करना, शमके साधनमें प्रेम रखना, खुले मैदान चबूतरेपर सोना, योगका अभ्यास करना, साग-पातका सेवन करना, फल-मूल खाकर रहना, वायु, जल और सेवारका आहार करना--ये ऋषियोंके नियम हैं। इनका पालन करनेसे वे अजित--सर्वश्रेष्ठ गतिको प्राप्त करते हैं ।।
viṣayabhogebhyo nivṛttir, gorasāhāraḥ, śamasādhanaprema, vivṛte kṣetre caṭvare śayanaṃ, yogābhyāsaḥ, śākapatrasevanaṃ, phalamūlāśanaṃ, vāyu-jala-sevāra-āhāraś ca—ete ṛṣīṇāṃ niyamāḥ; etān anutiṣṭhanto ’jitāṃ (ajitāṃ) paramāṃ gatiṃ prāpnuvanti. vidhūme sannamusale vyaḍrāre bhuktavajjane | atītapātrasañcāre kāle vigatabhikṣuke ||
Maheshvara said: “To withdraw from sense-pleasures; to live on milk-products; to cherish the disciplines of inner calm; to sleep on open ground or a raised platform; to practice yoga; to eat greens and leaves; to subsist on fruits and roots; and to take only air, water, and what is obtained by service—these are the observances of the seers. By keeping these vows, they attain the unconquered, highest state.” The verse further evokes the austere setting of such life: eating in a place without smoke, with a simple pestle-and-mortar at hand, moving about with a worn vessel, and at a time when begging has ceased—signs of strict renunciation and regulated living.
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches disciplined renunciation: restraining the senses, adopting simple and pure sustenance, cultivating inner calm, and practicing yoga. Such regulated living is presented as a dharmic path leading to the ‘unconquered’ highest goal (paramā gati), i.e., liberation or the supreme spiritual state.
Śrī Mahēśvara is instructing about the niyamas (observances) followed by ṛṣis. He lists concrete practices—diet, sleeping arrangements, and yogic discipline—and then indicates that these austerities characterize a life of renunciation and lead to the highest attainment.