Shloka 6

Pūjya-namaskārya-prakaraṇa

On Those Worthy of Honor and Salutation

Devanagari script

सुदुर्वहं बहन्‌ योगं कृशो धमनिसंततः । त्वगस्थिभूतो धर्मात्मा स पपातेति नः श्रुतम्‌

Transliteration

sudurvahaṁ bahan yogaṁ kṛśo dhamanisaṁtataḥ | tvagasthibhūto dharmātmā sa papāteti naḥ śrutam |

Translation

उसने अत्यन्त दुर्धर योग-साधना का अनुष्ठान किया। वह कृश हो गया, नसें उभर आईं; धर्मात्मा मतंग का शरीर केवल त्वचा और हड्डियों का ढाँचा रह गया। ऐसी दशा में वह अपने को सँभाल न सका और गिर पड़ा—यह हमने सुना है।

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'sudurvaham', 'definition': 'very hard to bear

• extremely difficult to endure'}, {'term': 'bahan', 'definition': 'bearing, carrying on, undertaking (a practice)'}, {'term': 'yogam', 'definition': 'yogic discipline

• concentrated spiritual exertion'}, {'term': 'kṛśaḥ', 'definition': 'emaciated, thin, weakened'}, {'term': 'dhamani-saṁtataḥ', 'definition': 'with veins/arteries stretched or prominent

• sinews standing out'}, {'term': 'tvak-asthi-bhūtaḥ', 'definition': 'become (only) skin and bones

• reduced to a skeletal frame'}, {'term': 'dharmātmā', 'definition': 'righteous-souled

• devoted to dharma'}, {'term': 'papāta', 'definition': 'fell down'}, {'term': 'iti naḥ śrutam', 'definition': 'thus we have heard

Speaker

शक्र उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Śakra (Indra)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights both the seriousness of yogic austerity and the ethical caution that even a dharmic practitioner can be physically overwhelmed. It implies that spiritual striving must recognize bodily limits; endurance is praised, but reckless extremity can lead to collapse.

What is happening in the narrative?

Śakra (Indra) reports a heard account: a righteous practitioner undertook a very difficult yogic discipline, became severely emaciated with prominent veins, and ultimately fell down because he could not maintain his body in that weakened state.