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 ||
മഹാദേവൻ അരുളിച്ചെയ്തു—വാനപ്രസ്ഥ മുനിയുടെ ധർമ്മം ഇതാണ്: അഷ്ടമീ-യജ്ഞം (അഷ്ടകാ കർമ്മം) പ്രതി നിഷ്ഠ, ചാതുർമാസ്യ വ്രതാനുഷ്ഠാനം, പൗർണമാസാദി യജ്ഞങ്ങളും നിത്യയജ്ഞവും ക്രമമായി നിർവഹിക്കൽ.
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.