Shloka 32
अध्याय १२८: शिव–उमा संवादः — तिलोत्तमा, श्मशान-मेध्यता, तथा चातुर्वर्ण्य-धर्मः
Chapter 128: Śiva–Umā Dialogue—Tilottamā, the Ritual Valence of the Śmaśāna, and the Fourfold Duty-Code
साधून् गृहस्थान् दृष्टवा च तथा साधून् वनेचरान् । मुक्तांक्षावसथे सक्तांस्तेनासि हरिण: कृश:
sādhūn gṛhasthān dṛṣṭvā ca tathā sādhūn vanecarān | muktākṣāvasathe saktāṁs tenāsi hariṇaḥ kṛśaḥ ||
Le brāhmane dit : «Voyant des hommes vertueux parmi les maîtres de maison, et de même des hommes vertueux qui demeurent dans la forêt, et voyant aussi ceux qui—tout en se disant détachés—restent attachés aux lieux dits de “délivrance”, tels les ermitages et les logis monastiques, toi, ô cerf, tu es devenu pâle et décharné.»
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
Virtue is not confined to one life-stage: goodness can exist among householders and forest-dwellers alike. Conversely, even those who appear ‘liberated’ may still be attached to institutions or abodes. The teaching urges discernment—judge by inner detachment and conduct, not by external labels.
A brāhmaṇa addresses a deer, explaining the deer’s pallor and thinness as arising from what it has observed: genuine sādhus in different ways of life, and also people who claim renunciation yet remain attached to their dwellings. The speech frames a moral reflection on mixed examples in society and their effect on the observer.