Shloka 19

Devanagari script

एष धर्मो मया देवि वानप्रस्थाश्रित: शुभ: । विस्तरेणाथ सम्पन्नो यथास्थूलमुदाह्वत:

Transliteration

eṣa dharmo mayā devi vānaprasthāśritaḥ śubhaḥ | vistareṇātha sampanno yathāsthūlam udāhṛtaḥ ||

Translation

Maheshvara said: “O Goddess, this auspicious dharma belonging to the stage of the forest-dweller (vānaprastha) has been set forth by me—complete in its details. I have now declared it in a broad, general manner.”

Word by Word

एषःthis

धर्मःduty; dharma

मयाby me

देविO goddess (lady)

वानप्रस्थाश्रितःresorted to (the stage of) forest-dwelling

शुभःauspicious; good

विस्तरेणin detail; at length

अथthen; now; and

सम्पन्नःfully accomplished; complete

यथाas; according to

स्थूलम्briefly; in outline (lit. grossly)

उदाहृतःhas been stated; has been declared

Speaker

श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Śrīmaheśvara (Mahādeva/Śiva)

Devī (the Goddess, i.e., Umā/Pārvatī)

Vānaprastha-āśrama (forest-dweller stage)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Śiva frames the vānaprastha-dharma as an auspicious, complete discipline and signals that what follows (or what has been given) is an authoritative outline: the forest-dweller’s way is a structured ethical-spiritual path, not mere withdrawal.

What is happening in the narrative?

Maheshvara addresses Devī and concludes/bridges an instruction by stating that he has expounded the dharma of the vānaprastha āśrama—complete in detail—while presenting it here in a broad, summarized form.