Shloka 62
Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment
Parāśara’s Instruction
यदि प्रसन्नो भगवान् यदि चाहं भवत्तप्रिय: । यदि वाहमनुग्राह्मो यदि वा वरदो मम,उस समय देवगुरु बृहस्पतिने महादेवजीको वेदका मखाध्याय पढ़कर सुनाया। तत्पश्चात् प्रजापति दक्ष दोनों नेत्रोंसे आँसुओंकी धारा बहाते हुए हाथ जोड़कर भय और शंकासे सहमे हुए-से बोले--“भगवन्! यदि आप मुझपर प्रसन्न हैं, यदि मैं आपका प्रिय हूँ, आपके अनुग्रहका पात्र हूँ अथवा यदि आप मुझे वर देनेको उद्यत हैं तो मैं यही वर माँगता हूँ कि मैंने दीर्घकालसे महान् प्रयत्न करके जो ऐसा यज्ञ-सम्भार जुटा रखा था, उसमेंसे जो चला दिया गया, खा-पी लिया गया, नष्ट किया गया अथवा चूर-चूर करके फेंक दिया गया, वह सब मेरे लिये व्यर्थ न हो”
yadi prasanno bhagavān yadi cāhaṃ bhavattapriyaḥ | yadi vāham anugrāhyo yadi vā varado mama ||
Dakṣa, trembling with fear and doubt and with tears streaming from both eyes, addresses the Lord: “O Blessed One—if You are pleased with me; if I am dear to You; if I am fit to receive Your grace; or if You are disposed to grant me a boon—then this is the boon I ask: may the great sacrificial preparation I assembled over a long time with immense effort not become futile, even though much of it has been driven away, eaten and drunk, destroyed, or crushed and scattered.” The passage frames a moral appeal: even amid divine wrath and the collapse of ritual order, the petitioner seeks that sincere, hard-won effort not be rendered meaningless.
वीरभद्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when one’s undertaking is disrupted by forces beyond control, one may seek divine grace so that sincere, long-sustained effort is not rendered fruitless; the verse highlights humility, repentance, and the ethical desire for one’s labor to retain meaning rather than be wasted.
After Bṛhaspati recites Vedic instruction to Mahādeva, Dakṣa—afraid and uncertain—folds his hands and petitions the Lord: if the Lord is pleased and willing to grant a boon, Dakṣa asks that the sacrificial preparations he gathered with great effort not become futile despite having been ruined, consumed, or scattered.