Shloka 15

Devanagari script

तात! तपस्यामें सभीका अधिकार है। जितेन्द्रिय और मनोनिग्रहसम्पन्न हीन वर्णके लिये भी तपका विधान है; क्योंकि तप पुरुषको स्वर्गकी राहपर लानेवाला है ।। प्रजापति: प्रजा: पूर्वमसृजत्‌ तपसा विभु: । क्वचित्‌ क्वचिद्‌ ब्रह्मपरो व्रतान्यास्थाय पार्थिव,भूपाल! पूर्वकालमें शक्तिशाली प्रजापतिने तपमें स्थित होकर और कभी-कभी ब्रह्मपरायण व्रतमें स्थित होकर संसारकी रचना की थी

Transliteration

tāta! tapasyāṁ sarveṣām adhikāraḥ. jitendriya-manonigraha-sampannasya hīna-varṇasya api tapasāṁ vidhānam; yataḥ tapaḥ puruṣaṁ svargasya mārgam ānayati. prajāpatiḥ prajāḥ pūrvam asṛjat tapasā vibhuḥ. kvacit kvacid brahma-paraḥ vratāny āsthāya, pārthiva-bhūpāla! pūrva-kāle śaktimān prajāpatiḥ tapasi sthitvā ca kadācid brahma-parāyaṇa-vrate sthitvā ca jagat-sṛṣṭim akarot.

Translation

Parāśara said: “Dear one, everyone has a right to practise austerity. Even a person of low social standing, if self-controlled and disciplined in mind, is enjoined to undertake tapas; for austerity leads a person onto the path to heaven. In ancient times the mighty Prajāpati created beings through tapas; and at times, O king and protector of the earth, he established himself in vows devoted to Brahman and thus brought forth the creation of the world.”

Word by Word

प्रजापतिःPrajapati (Lord of creatures)

प्रजाःcreatures, subjects

पूर्वम्formerly, at first

असृजत्created

तपसाby austerity

विभुःmighty, all-powerful

क्वचित्sometimes, somewhere

क्वचित्at other times/places

ब्रह्मपरःdevoted to Brahman

व्रतानिvows, observances

आस्थायhaving undertaken, resorting to

पार्थिवO king

Speaker

पराशर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Parāśara

Prajāpati

Brahman

the king (pārthiva/bhūpāla)

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?

Tapas is a universally available discipline: anyone who cultivates sense-control and mental restraint is eligible for austerity, and such tapas is presented as a means of spiritual uplift (symbolized as the path to heaven).

What is happening in the narrative?

Parāśara instructs a king, arguing for the broad accessibility of ascetic practice and supporting it with a cosmological example: Prajāpati himself created beings by abiding in tapas and by undertaking Brahman-oriented vows.