Shloka 58
Rudra-Śiva: Names, Two Natures, and the Logic of Epithets (रुद्रनाम-बहुरूपत्व-प्रकरणम्)
स शूद्र: संशिततपा: सत्यवादी जितेन्द्रिय: । शुश्रूषुरतिथिं प्राप्त तप: संचिनुते महत्
sa śūdraḥ saṃśitatapāḥ satyavādī jitendriyaḥ | śuśrūṣur atithiṃ prāptaṃ tapaḥ saṃcinute mahat ||
Mahādeva dijo: «Ese Śūdra—disciplinado en la austeridad, entregado a la verdad y dueño de sus sentidos—que sirve con respeto al huésped que ha llegado, acumula un gran mérito de tapas. Para él, el dharma manifestado como servicio se convierte en una austeridad rigurosa».
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Ethical excellence is measured by conduct: truthfulness, self-mastery, and hospitality. Serving an unexpected guest is presented as a form of tapas, generating great spiritual merit.
Mahādeva is instructing about dharma, highlighting that a Śūdra who practices truth, restraint, and devoted service to an arriving guest attains great tapas through service itself.