Shloka 44
Vānaprastha-dharma and Tapas: Śiva–Umā Saṃvāda
Forest-Stage Discipline and Austerity
मैंने जो दोष बताये हैं, वे वैसे ही प्राप्त होते हैं। इसमें कोई परिवर्तन नहीं होता; अतः ब्राह्मण स्नान करके पवित्र एवं क्षमाशील हो श्राद्धमें भोजन करे ।।
mayā ye doṣāḥ pradarśitāḥ te tathāiva prāpyante; atra na kiñcid vikāraḥ. ataḥ brāhmaṇaḥ snātvā pavitraḥ kṣamāśīlaś ca śrāddhe bhojanaṃ kuryāt. prajā vivardhate cāsya yaś caivaṃ samprayacchati. tataḥ vidyutprabho nāma ṛṣir āha mahātapāḥ.
神なる使者は言った。「我が示した過失は、語ったとおりに必ず果を結び、この法に変転はない。ゆえに婆羅門は沐浴して清浄となり、寛恕の心をもってシュラーダ（śrāddha）の食を受けるべきである。このようにしてシュラーダの施与をなす者には、子孫が増え広がる。」ピトリ（Pitṛs）がかく語り終えると、ヴィディユトプラバ（Vidyutprabha）という大苦行の聖仙が、ついに己が問いを差し出した。
देवदूत उवाच
Educational Q&A
Karmic consequences are invariable: faults yield their stated results without alteration. Therefore śrāddha should be approached with ritual purity (bathing), inner discipline (forgiveness), and proper giving; such correct performance is said to support prosperity, especially the growth of one’s progeny.
A divine messenger explains the fixed nature of moral causality and prescribes the proper disposition for participating in a śrāddha meal. The Pitṛs’ assurance that correct śrāddha-giving increases progeny is followed by the entrance of the ascetic sage Vidyutprabha, who then poses a question, moving the dialogue forward.