Shloka 13
Adhyāya 60: Dāna vs. Yajña—Royal Giving, Protection, and Karmic Share
गवाढ्यः शाकदीक्षाभ्रि: स्वर्गमाहुस्तृणाशिनाम् | स्त्रियस्त्रिषवर्णं स्नात्वा वायुं पीत्वा क्रतुं लभेत्
Vaiśampāyana uvāca | gavāḍhyaḥ śākadīkṣābhriḥ svargam āhus tṛṇāśinām | striyas triṣavarṇaṃ snātvā vāyuṃ pītvā kratuṃ labhet |
Vaiśampāyana disse: “Declaram que aquele que é rico em gado, e aquele que assumiu o voto Śāka (Śāka-vow), alcança o céu mesmo vivendo de relva. Do mesmo modo, uma mulher, após banhar-se nos três tempos sagrados e sustentar-se como se ‘bebesse o vento’ (vivendo do ar), pode obter o fruto de um rito sacrificial.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse emphasizes that heaven/merit can be attained not only through formal sacrifice but also through disciplined living—vows, restraint, and austerity. It also affirms that women, by observances such as regular purificatory bathing and severe self-restraint (fasting), can obtain the merit comparable to a sacrificial rite.
Vaiśampāyana, as narrator, reports a traditional doctrinal claim about the efficacy of certain vows and austerities: those living with extreme simplicity (even ‘grass-eaters’) and those undertaking specific dietary observances are said to reach heaven; similarly, women practicing prescribed purifications and austerities are said to gain sacrificial merit.