Shloka 39
मातङ्ग–शक्रसंवादः
Mataṅga–Śakra Dialogue on Tapas, Status, and Moral Qualities
इन्दुब्रतसहस्र॑ तु यश्चरेत् कायशोधनम् । पिबेद् यश्चापि गज्भाम्भ: समौ स्यातां न वा समौ
induvrata-sahasraṁ tu yaś caret kāya-śodhanam | pibed yaś cāpi gaṅgāmbhaḥ samau syātāṁ na vā samau ||
Сиддха сказал: «Один может совершить тысячу лунных очистительных обетов-искуплений (Чандраяна, Cāndrāyaṇa), чтобы очистить тело; другой же просто пьёт воды Ганги. Их можно счесть равными — а можно и не счесть, и тогда питьё воды Ганги окажется выше.»
सिद्ध उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse weighs elaborate bodily/ritual penance against the sanctifying power attributed to Gaṅgā-water, suggesting that sincere contact with a sacred purifier may equal—or even exceed—extensive austerities.
A Siddha is instructing about comparative religious merit: he contrasts performing many Cāndrāyaṇa vows for bodily purification with the act of drinking Gaṅgā-water, and he leaves open (or emphasizes) the possibility that the latter is superior.