Shloka 45

Rudra-Śiva: Names, Two Natures, and the Logic of Epithets (रुद्रनाम-बहुरूपत्व-प्रकरणम्)

Devanagari script

एष द्विजजने धर्मो गा्हस्थ्यो लोकधारण: । द्विजानां च सतां नित्यं सदैवैष प्रवर्तते

Transliteration

eṣa dvijajane dharmo gārhasthyo lokadhāraṇaḥ | dvijānāṁ ca satāṁ nityaṁ sadaivaiṣa pravartate ||

Translation

Tel est le dharma des « deux-fois-nés » dans l’état de chef de maison : une manière de vivre qui soutient et maintient le monde. Parmi les brahmanes vertueux, il est pratiqué sans relâche ; en vérité, pour eux, il demeure toujours en vigueur comme règle stable de conduite.

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'eṣa', 'definition': 'this (presently stated rule/practice)'}, {'term': 'dvija', 'definition': '‘twice-born’

• traditionally Brahmins, Kshatriyas, and Vaishyas after initiation'}, {'term': 'dvijajana', 'definition': 'the community/class of the twice-born'}, {'term': 'dharmaḥ', 'definition': 'duty

• sustaining law'}, {'term': 'gārhasthyaḥ', 'definition': 'pertaining to the householder stage (gṛhastha-āśrama)'}, {'term': 'lokadhāraṇaḥ', 'definition': 'world-sustaining

• that which supports social order and life'}, {'term': 'satām', 'definition': 'of the good/virtuous people'}, {'term': 'nityam', 'definition': 'always

• as a constant practice'}, {'term': 'sadaiva', 'definition': 'at all times

• ever'}, {'term': 'pravartate', 'definition': 'is carried on

Speaker

श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Śrī Maheśvara (speaker)
• dvija (twice-born)
• gārhasthya-dharma (householder dharma)
• loka (the world)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse affirms that the householder’s dharma for the twice-born is not merely personal piety but a world-sustaining discipline; among the virtuous it is maintained continuously as a stable norm.

What is happening in the narrative?

Maheśvara is instructing about proper conduct, emphasizing the gārhasthya mode of life as a foundational support of society, and noting that good Brahmins keep this discipline as an ongoing practice.