Shloka 173
तत् फलं तस्य भवति देव्याश्छन्देन भारत । भारत! तबसे उस देवीका “शाकम्भरी” ही नाम प्रसिद्ध हो गया। शाकम्भरीके समीप जाकर मनुष्य ब्रह्मचर्य पालनपूर्वक एकाग्रचित्त और पवित्र हो वहाँ तीन राततक शाक खाकर रहे तो बारह वर्षोतक शाकाहारी मनुष्यको जो पुण्य प्राप्त होता है, वह उसे देवीकी इच्छासे (तीन ही दिनोंमें) मिल जाता है
tat phalaṁ tasya bhavati devyāś chandenā bhārata |
“That very fruit accrues to him by the Goddess’s own will, O Bhārata.” From that time the Goddess became renowned by the name Śākambharī. Whoever goes near Śākambharī and, observing brahmacarya, with a focused and purified mind, lives there for three nights eating only vegetables, receives—by the Goddess’s grace in just those three days—the same merit that a person devoted to a vegetable diet would otherwise gain over twelve years.
घुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Sincere discipline (brahmacarya), purity, and focused devotion at a sacred presence can compress long-term merit into a short observance when supported by divine grace; the ethical emphasis is on restraint, mental concentration, and reverent intention rather than mere duration.
The speaker explains the efficacy of approaching the Goddess Śākambharī: a three-night observance near her—maintaining celibate discipline and eating only vegetables—yields, by her will, the same spiritual merit that would normally require twelve years of such dietary restraint.