Shloka 15
धौतदन्तं कृत्तनखं सदा स्नातमलंकृतम् । असितं सितकर्माणं कस्तमर्हति नार्चितुम्,जिसके दाँत शुद्ध और साफ हैं, जिसके नख (और केश) कटे हुए हैं, जो सदा स्नान करता है तथा यम-नियमादिसे अलंकृत (है, उन्हें धारण किये हुए) है, शीतोष्णको सहनेसे जिसका शरीर श्याम पड़ गया है, जिसके आचरण उत्तम हैं--ऐसा संनन््यासी किसके लिये पूजनीय नहीं है?
adhautadantaṃ kṛttanakhaṃ sadā snātam alaṅkṛtam | asitaṃ sitakarmāṇaṃ kas tam arhati nārcitum ||
Aṭaka said: “Whose teeth are cleansed, whose nails are trimmed, who is ever bathed and disciplined—adorned with the observances of self-restraint; whose body has grown dark from enduring heat and cold; whose conduct is pure—what renunciant of such a kind would not deserve reverence?”
अद्टक उवाच
Educational Q&A
True reverence is due to a renunciant whose life shows disciplined purity—cleanliness, self-restraint, endurance of hardship, and blameless conduct. The verse frames honouring such a person as an ethical obligation.
Aṭaka is speaking in praise of an ascetic ideal, rhetorically asking who could possibly withhold honour from a renunciant marked by austerity and pure conduct—thereby reinforcing norms of respect toward the virtuous.