Shloka 98
Rudra-Śiva: Names, Two Natures, and the Logic of Epithets (रुद्रनाम-बहुरूपत्व-प्रकरणम्)
एष तेषां विशुद्धानां फेनपानां तपोधने । धर्मचर्याकृतो मार्गो बालखिल्यगणै: शृणु
eṣa teṣāṃ viśuddhānāṃ phenapānāṃ tapodhane | dharmacaryākṛto mārgo bālakhilyagaṇaiḥ śṛṇu, tapodhane ||
«Oh tesoro de austeridad: éste es el sendero de la conducta justa establecido para aquellos sabios purificados conocidos como los ascetas Phenapāna. Ahora, oh rico en ascesis, escucha el camino del dharma tal como lo enseñó el grupo de rishis llamado los Bālakhilyas.»
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma is presented as a disciplined ‘path’ (mārga) grounded in purified conduct (dharma-caryā). The verse frames ethical life as something established and transmitted by exemplary ascetic lineages—first the Phenapānas, then the Bālakhilyas—implying that righteous practice is learned through authoritative tradition and lived austerity.
Maheśvara addresses an ascetic (called ‘tapodhane’) and transitions from one authoritative model of dharma (the purified Phenapāna sages) to another (the Bālakhilya sages). It functions as a connective verse: having indicated one established path, the speaker now invites the listener to hear the next teaching ascribed to the Bālakhilya group.