Shloka 70
Rudra-Śiva: Names, Two Natures, and the Logic of Epithets (रुद्रनाम-बहुरूपत्व-प्रकरणम्)
इनमें भी सदा स्वाध्यायशील होना ब्राह्मणका मुख्य धर्म है, यज्ञ करना सनातन धर्म है और अपनी शक्तिके अनुसार विधिपूर्वक दान देना उसके लिये प्रशस्त धर्म है ।।
śrīmaheśvara uvāca | imeṣu api sadā svādhyāyaśīlo bhavituṃ brāhmaṇasya mukhyo dharmaḥ | yajñaṃ kartum sanātano dharmaḥ | svaśaktyā yathāvidhi dānaṃ dātuṃ tasya praśasto dharmaḥ || śamas tūparamo dharmaḥ pravṛttaḥ satsu nityaśaḥ | gṛhasthānāṃ viśuddhānāṃ dharmasya nicayo mahān ||
Śrī Maheśvara said: “Among these duties, constant devotion to sacred study is the foremost dharma of a brāhmaṇa. Performing sacrifice is an eternal duty, and giving gifts—according to one’s capacity and in the proper manner—is a commendable duty for him. But self-restraint (śama), the turning away from all sense-objects, is the highest dharma; it is ever found established in the good. By practicing it, pure-minded householders attain a great accumulation of merit and righteousness.”
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse ranks duties: for a brāhmaṇa, sacred study (svādhyāya), sacrifice (yajña), and charity (dāna) are praised, but above all stands śama—deep self-restraint and withdrawal from sense-objects—which yields the greatest store of dharma even for householders.
Śrī Maheśvara is instructing about dharma, specifying key obligations and then elevating inner discipline (śama) as the supreme principle that undergirds and perfects outward religious acts.