Shloka 49
Pratyakṣa–Āgama–Ācāra: Doubt, Proof, and the Practice of Dharma (प्रत्यक्ष–आगम–आचारविचारः)
आत्मानमुपजीवन दीक्षां द्वादशवार्षिकीम्
ātmānam upajīvan dīkṣāṃ dvādaśavārṣikīm; yaḥ svayam eva sahāyena jīvana-yāpanaṃ kurvan nirdvandvaḥ parigrahaśūnyaś ca dvādaśa varṣāṇi vratadīkṣāṃ gṛhṇāti, ante ca pāṣāṇena svapādau vidīrya svayam eva śarīraṃ tyajati, sa guhyakaloke ānandaṃ bhuṅkte.
महेश्वर ने कहा—जो अपने ही सहारे जीवन-यापन करता, निर्द्वन्द्व और परिग्रहशून्य होकर बारह वर्षों के लिए व्रत-दीक्षा ले; और अंत में पत्थर से अपने चरणों को विदीर्ण कर स्वयं ही देह त्याग दे—वह गुह्यक-लोक में आनंद भोगता है।
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse praises rigorous vow-observance grounded in self-reliance, freedom from dualities, and non-possessiveness. It presents extreme renunciation—culminating in voluntary abandonment of the body—as leading to a specific posthumous reward (Guhyaka-loka), emphasizing the ethical ideal of detachment and disciplined austerity.
Maheśvara describes a practitioner who undertakes a twelve-year initiation into a vow, living without possessions and without inner agitation. After completing the period, he ends his life through a severe act (splitting his feet with a stone) and, as a result, is said to attain the hidden realm of the Guhyakas and experience bliss.