Shloka 56
Vānaprastha-dharma and Tapas: Śiva–Umā Saṃvāda
Forest-Stage Discipline and Austerity
रश्मिभिस्तापितो<र्कस्य सर्वपापमपोहति । ग्रीष्मकाले5थ वा शीते एवं पापमपोहति
śakra uvāca | raśmibhis tāpito 'rkasya sarvapāpam apohati | grīṣmakāle 'tha vā śīte evaṃ pāpam apohati |
釈迦羅は言った。「太陽の光線に温められる者は、あらゆる罪を払い去る。夏の酷暑であれ寒季の冷えであれ、日光に炙られることによってこのように罪は除かれる。かくして人は過ちから解き放たれ、罪を離れた者は久遠の光輝を得る—自らの威光により太陽のごとく燃え立ち、月のごとく澄んで照らす。」
शक्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
Contact with the Sun’s rays—enduring heat or cold with steadiness—functions as a purificatory discipline: it is said to destroy sin and yield lasting inner radiance (kānti/tejas). The ethical emphasis is on purification and transformation through disciplined endurance aligned with cosmic forces.
Indra (Śakra) is speaking as an instructor, describing a specific means of expiation/purification: being warmed by the Sun’s rays in different seasons. He links this practice to the removal of pāpa (sin) and the attainment of a luminous, exalted state.