Shloka 56
Vānaprastha-dharma and Tapas: Śiva–Umā Saṃvāda
Forest-Stage Discipline and Austerity
रश्मिभिस्तापितो<र्कस्य सर्वपापमपोहति । ग्रीष्मकाले5थ वा शीते एवं पापमपोहति
śakra uvāca | raśmibhis tāpito 'rkasya sarvapāpam apohati | grīṣmakāle 'tha vā śīte evaṃ pāpam apohati |
Śakra dit : «Celui que réchauffent les rayons du Soleil rejette tout péché. Qu’il fasse la chaleur de l’été ou le froid de la saison, être chauffé par les rayons du Soleil efface ainsi le péché. L’homme devient alors exempt de faute; et, délivré du péché, il obtient une clarté durable—il flamboie de son propre éclat comme le Soleil et rayonne comme la Lune.»
शक्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
Contact with the Sun’s rays—enduring heat or cold with steadiness—functions as a purificatory discipline: it is said to destroy sin and yield lasting inner radiance (kānti/tejas). The ethical emphasis is on purification and transformation through disciplined endurance aligned with cosmic forces.
Indra (Śakra) is speaking as an instructor, describing a specific means of expiation/purification: being warmed by the Sun’s rays in different seasons. He links this practice to the removal of pāpa (sin) and the attainment of a luminous, exalted state.