Shloka 21
Pratyakṣa–Āgama–Ācāra: Doubt, Proof, and the Practice of Dharma (प्रत्यक्ष–आगम–आचारविचारः)
उमादेवी बोलीं--भगवन्! सर्वभूतेश्वर! समस्त प्राणियोंद्वारा वन्दित महेश्वर! ज्ञानगोष्ठियोंमें मुनि-समुदायका जो धर्म निश्चित किया गया है, उसे बताइये ।।
umādevī uvāca—bhagavan sarvabhūteśvara samasta-prāṇibhir vandita maheśvara jñāna-goṣṭhīṣu munisamūhena yo dharmaḥ niścitaḥ sa me brūhi. siddhivādeṣu saṃsiddhās tathā vana-nivāsinaḥ; svairiṇo dāra-saṃyuktās teṣāṃ dharmaḥ kathaṃ smṛtaḥ?
ウマー女神は言った。「ああ、福徳具足の主よ、万有の主宰よ、あらゆる生きとし生けるものに礼拝されるマヘーシュヴァラよ――霊知の論議の座において、牟尼たちの集いが定めたダルマの規範を、どうかお示しください。成就の教説において完全に成ったと称される者、また林住の苦行者のうちには、ある者は妻を持たず自由に独り歩み、ある者は妻と共に住します。かかる人々のダルマは、いかに理解されるべきでしょうか。」
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a dharma-question about legitimate modes of ascetic life: whether perfected forest-dwellers who roam alone and those who live with a wife can both be considered righteous, and by what standard their conduct is judged in learned tradition.
Umā (Pārvatī) addresses Maheśvara (Śiva) and asks him to explain the dharma established by sages in knowledge-assemblies, specifically concerning accomplished ascetics—some solitary wanderers and some living in the forest with spouses.