Shloka 16
Draupadī’s Instruction on Marital Conduct and Household Discipline (चित्तग्रहण-उपदेश)
शरीराद् विविधाश्रान्ये धातवोडस्थाभवन् नृप । एवं त्यक्त्वा शरीरं च परमे तपसि स्थित:,राजन्! सह अग्निके शरीरसे अन्य नाना प्रकारके धातु उत्पन्न हुए। इस प्रकार शरीर त्यागकर वे बड़ी भारी तपस्यामें लग गये
śarīrād vividhāny anye dhātavo 'sthābhavan nṛpa | evaṃ tyaktvā śarīraṃ ca parame tapasi sthitaḥ ||
Mārkaṇḍeya said: “O king, from the body there arose various other constituents, and even the bones came forth. Thus, having cast off the body, he remained established in the highest austerity.” The passage underscores the ideal of radical renunciation: the sage’s resolve is so unwavering that even the dissolution of the physical frame does not interrupt the pursuit of tapas and inner discipline.
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights steadfastness in tapas and vairāgya (detachment): true spiritual discipline is not dependent on bodily comfort or even bodily continuity; the aspirant remains fixed in the highest aim despite physical dissolution.
Mārkaṇḍeya describes an extreme ascetic episode: bodily constituents (dhātus) and bones are said to arise/separate from the body, and the ascetic, having abandoned the body, continues established in supreme austerity.