Shloka 26
Pratyakṣa–Āgama–Ācāra: Doubt, Proof, and the Practice of Dharma (प्रत्यक्ष–आगम–आचारविचारः)
तेषामृषिकृतो धर्मो धर्मिणामुपपद्यते । न कामकारात् कामोडन्य: संसेव्यो धर्मदर्शिभि:
teṣām ṛṣikṛto dharmo dharmiṇām upapadyate | na kāmakārāt kāmo 'nyaḥ saṁsevyo dharmadarśibhiḥ ||
जे गृहस्थ दाम्पत्यधर्म पाळून पत्नीला धर्मसहचारिणी म्हणून ठेवतात, इंद्रियसंयमपूर्वक वेदविहित धर्माचरण करतात आणि केवळ ऋतुकाळातच स्त्रीसंग करतात—त्या धर्मात्म्यांना ऋषींनी सांगितलेल्या धर्मपालनाचे फल प्राप्त होते. धर्मदर्शी पुरुषांनी केवळ इच्छा किंवा मनमानीपोटी भोगाचा उपभोग करू नये; कामप्रेरित आसक्तीला जीवनमार्ग बनवू नये.
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma is to be lived according to the standards established by the sages, and ethical people should not treat desire as a license for indulgence. The verse emphasizes restraint and rule-governed conduct rather than pleasure pursued from mere impulse.
Śrī Maheśvara is instructing about proper dharmic conduct. In context (as reflected in the accompanying explanation), the teaching is applied especially to householders: keeping marital life within Vedic discipline and practicing sense-control, not making desire the guiding principle.