Shloka 49
Pratyakṣa–Āgama–Ācāra: Doubt, Proof, and the Practice of Dharma (प्रत्यक्ष–आगम–आचारविचारः)
आत्मानमुपजीवन दीक्षां द्वादशवार्षिकीम्
ātmānam upajīvan dīkṣāṃ dvādaśavārṣikīm; yaḥ svayam eva sahāyena jīvana-yāpanaṃ kurvan nirdvandvaḥ parigrahaśūnyaś ca dvādaśa varṣāṇi vratadīkṣāṃ gṛhṇāti, ante ca pāṣāṇena svapādau vidīrya svayam eva śarīraṃ tyajati, sa guhyakaloke ānandaṃ bhuṅkte.
Maheshvara declara: Quien vive apoyándose sólo en el Sí mismo, sosteniendo la vida por sus propios medios, libre de las dualidades y sin posesiones, asume una iniciación de voto por doce años. Al término, al hendirse los pies con una piedra y abandonar voluntariamente el cuerpo, alcanza el mundo secreto, Guhyaka-loka, y allí goza de dicha.
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse praises rigorous vow-observance grounded in self-reliance, freedom from dualities, and non-possessiveness. It presents extreme renunciation—culminating in voluntary abandonment of the body—as leading to a specific posthumous reward (Guhyaka-loka), emphasizing the ethical ideal of detachment and disciplined austerity.
Maheśvara describes a practitioner who undertakes a twelve-year initiation into a vow, living without possessions and without inner agitation. After completing the period, he ends his life through a severe act (splitting his feet with a stone) and, as a result, is said to attain the hidden realm of the Guhyakas and experience bliss.