Shloka 7
Nārada’s Exempla of Tapas and Assurance to Dhṛtarāṣṭra (नारदोपदेशः—तपःसिद्ध्युदाहरणम्)
ददर्श तत्र वेदी श्व॒ संप्रजबलितपावका: । कृताभिषेकैर्मुनिभि्ठताग्निभिरुपस्थिता:
Vaiśampāyana uvāca: dadarśa tatra vedīḥ śubhrāḥ saṃprajvalita-pāvakāḥ | kṛtābhiṣekair munibhiḥ hutāgnibhir upasthitāḥ | vana-puṣpa-ghṛtāhuti-dhūmair api ca tāḥ śobhante | nityaṃ veda-dhvani-yuktāḥ vedamaya-śarīravat pratibhānti | munigaṇaiḥ satataṃ saṃsparśaṃ kurvadbhiḥ ||
ヴァイシャンパーヤナは語った。「そこに彼らは、整然と設けられ、光り輝く祭壇を見た。祭壇の上では聖なる火が烈しく燃え盛っていた。賢仙たちは—儀礼の沐浴と灌頂の清めを終えると—その火の傍らに座し、火を守り、供物を捧げていた。森の花と澄ましバター（ギー）の供献から立ちのぼる渦巻く煙が、祭壇の荘厳をいっそう増していた。さらにヴェーダ誦唱の響きが絶え間なく満ちていたため、祭壇はまるでヴェーダそのものから成る身体を備えたかのように見え、苦行者の群れが常に寄り添って奉仕し、儀礼と一体となっていた。」
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights dharma as sustained practice: purity (ritual bathing), disciplined maintenance of sacred fire, and continuous Vedic recitation. Ethical life is shown not as mere belief but as steady, communal observance that sanctifies the environment and the mind.
The narrator describes a hermitage scene where sages sit by consecrated altars with blazing fires, offering oblations of ghee and forest flowers. The constant sound of Vedic chanting makes the altars appear ‘embodied’ with Vedic presence, emphasizing an atmosphere of uninterrupted ritual life.