Shloka 31
Rudra-Śiva: Names, Two Natures, and the Logic of Epithets (रुद्रनाम-बहुरूपत्व-प्रकरणम्)
उपवास: सदा धर्मो ब्राह्मणस्य न संशय: । स हि धर्मार्थसम्पन्नो ब्रह्म भूयाय कल्पते
upavāsaḥ sadā dharmo brāhmaṇasya na saṁśayaḥ | sa hi dharmārthasampanno brahma bhūyāya kalpate ||
Maheshvara dit : « Pour un brāhmaṇa, l’observance de l’upavāsa—entendue comme une maîtrise disciplinée des sens—est toujours une forme de dharma ; il n’y a là aucun doute. Pour celui qui est pourvu de dharma et d’artha (droiture et moyens justes), un tel brāhmaṇa devient apte à atteindre l’état de Brahman. »
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Upavāsa—taken not merely as abstaining from food but as sustained restraint of the senses—is presented as a constant dharma for a brāhmaṇa. When joined with dharma and artha in a righteous way of life, it qualifies one for Brahman-attainment.
Śrī Maheśvara is instructing about the ethical and spiritual discipline appropriate to a brāhmaṇa, emphasizing continual self-restraint as a religious duty and linking such disciplined living to eligibility for realizing Brahman.