Shloka 38
Rudra-Śiva: Names, Two Natures, and the Logic of Epithets (रुद्रनाम-बहुरूपत्व-प्रकरणम्)
शूद्रान्नवर्जनं धर्मस्तथा सत्पथसेवनम् । धर्मो नित्योपवासित्वं॑ ब्रह्मचर्य तथैव च
śūdrānna-varjanaṁ dharmas tathā satpatha-sevanam | dharmo nityopavāsitvaṁ brahmacarya tathaiva ca ||
Śrī Maheśvara dijo: «Para un brāhmaṇa, es deber abstenerse de aceptar alimento de un śūdra. Del mismo modo, seguir el buen sendero—frecuentar a los justos y practicar la rectitud—es dharma. También lo son la disciplina del ayuno regular y la observancia del brahmacarya».
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma is presented as disciplined conduct: maintaining prescribed boundaries in accepting food, actively following the righteous path (satpatha), and cultivating self-restraint through regular fasting and brahmacarya.
Maheśvara is instructing about dharma by listing concrete observances—social-ritual restraint regarding food and personal austerities—framing them as supports for ethical life and spiritual steadiness.