Shloka 16
Āloka-dāna (Dīpa-dāna), Sumanas–Dhūpa–Dīpa Phala: Manu–Suvarṇa and Śukra–Bali Exempla
शुक्र उवाच तप: पूर्व समुत्पन्नं धर्मस्तस्मादनन्तरम् । एतस्मिन्नन्तरे चैव वीरुदोषध्य एव च
śukra uvāca | tapaḥ pūrvaṃ samutpannaṃ dharmas tasmād anantaram | etasminn antare caiva vīrudhoṣadhaya eva ca |
Shukra dijo: «Oh rey, primero surgió el tapas, la austeridad; después de ello nació el dharma. Y en el intervalo entre ambos se manifestaron también las enredaderas y las hierbas medicinales».
शुक्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents a moral-cosmic sequence: disciplined austerity (tapas) is portrayed as preceding and enabling the emergence of dharma (righteous order). It implies that inner restraint and spiritual effort are foundational for ethical life and social order.
Śukra is instructing a king, explaining an account of primordial emergence: first tapas arose, then dharma; and in the intervening phase, vegetation—creepers and medicinal herbs—appeared, linking ethical order with the unfolding of the natural world.