Shloka 4
Pratyakṣa–Āgama–Ācāra: Doubt, Proof, and the Practice of Dharma (प्रत्यक्ष–आगम–आचारविचारः)
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच वानप्रस्थेषु यो धर्मस्तं मे शूणु समाहिता । श्रुत्वा चैकमना देवि धर्मबुद्धिपरा भव
śrīmaheśvara uvāca | vānaprastheṣu yo dharmas taṃ me śṛṇu samāhitā | śrutvā caikamanā devi dharmabuddhiparā bhava ||
Śrī Maheśvara disse: “Ó Devī, ouve-me com a mente firme e recolhida, enquanto exponho o dharma prescrito para os chefes de família e para os vānaprasthas. Depois de ouvi-lo, torna-te de um só ânimo e fixa teu entendimento firmemente no dharma.”
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse emphasizes disciplined listening and single-minded attention as prerequisites for understanding and practicing dharma, specifically the duties connected with the vānaprastha (forest-dweller) stage (and by extension the regulated life of householders transitioning toward renunciation).
Śiva (Śrī Maheśvara) addresses Devī and begins an instructional discourse, inviting her to listen attentively while he outlines the dharma of vānaprasthas (and related āśrama duties), framing the teaching as an ethical-spiritual guideline.