Shloka 15
Pratyakṣa–Āgama–Ācāra: Doubt, Proof, and the Practice of Dharma (प्रत्यक्ष–आगम–आचारविचारः)
अष्टमीयज्ञपरता चातुर्मास्यनिषेवणम् । पौर्णमासादयो यज्ञा नित्ययज्ञस्तथैव च
aṣṭamīyajñaparatā cāturmāsyaniṣevaṇam | paurṇamāsādayo yajñā nityayajñas tathaiva ca ||
マハーデーヴァは言った。「林住期の修行者（ヴァーナプラスタ）にふさわしい規範はこれである。第八月日（アシュタミー）に行うアシュタカー（Aṣṭakā）の祭に専心し、四月季の誓戒チャートゥルマーシャ（Cāturmāsya）を守り、満月祭パウルナマーサ（Paurṇamāsa）に始まる諸儀礼を、日々の必修の祭祀とともに、常に怠りなく修すること。かくしてダルマへの堅固さと、節度ある礼拝とが、ヴァーナプラスタの生の倫理的基盤となる。」
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse defines vānaprastha-dharma as disciplined continuity in sacred obligations: observing periodic vows (Cāturmāsya), performing calendrical rites (like Paurṇamāsa), and maintaining daily worship/sacrifice (nitya-yajña). Ethical life here is framed as steadiness, restraint, and fidelity to prescribed duty.
Maheśvara is instructing about the duties of the forest-dweller stage of life. Rather than describing an external event, the passage lists the ritual and vow-based practices that constitute the vānaprastha’s regulated religious routine.