Shloka 69
Rudra-Śiva: Names, Two Natures, and the Logic of Epithets (रुद्रनाम-बहुरूपत्व-प्रकरणम्)
नित्य: स्वाध्यायिता धर्मो धर्मो यज्ञ: सनातन: । दान॑ प्रशस्यते चास्य यथाशक्ति यथाविधि
nityaḥ svādhyāyitā dharmo dharmo yajñaḥ sanātanaḥ | dānaṃ praśasyate cāsya yathāśakti yathāvidhi ||
Mahādeva said: “Dharma is to be practiced daily through self-study; dharma itself is the eternal sacrifice. And within this way of life, giving is praised—performed according to one’s capacity and in the proper manner.”
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma should be lived as a daily discipline grounded in svādhyāya; true sacrifice is not merely ritual but the ongoing practice of dharma itself, and dāna is especially praised when given within one’s means and in accordance with proper norms.
Śrīmaheśvara is instructing the listener on the essentials of righteous living, redefining yajña in ethical terms and emphasizing regulated, capacity-based charity as a valued expression of dharma.