Anushasana Parva Adhyaya 60 Shloka 13 - Mahabharata | Russian | Vedapath

Vyasa

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Shloka 13

Adhyāya 60: Dāna vs. Yajña—Royal Giving, Protection, and Karmic Share

Devanagari script

गवाढ्यः शाकदीक्षाभ्रि: स्वर्गमाहुस्तृणाशिनाम्‌ | स्त्रियस्त्रिषवर्णं स्नात्वा वायुं पीत्वा क्रतुं लभेत्‌

Transliteration

Vaiśampāyana uvāca | gavāḍhyaḥ śākadīkṣābhriḥ svargam āhus tṛṇāśinām | striyas triṣavarṇaṃ snātvā vāyuṃ pītvā kratuṃ labhet |

Translation

Вайшампаяна сказал: «Говорят, что богатый стадами и принявший обет Шака (Śāka-vow) достигает небес, даже если питается травой. Так же и женщина, омывшись в три священных времени и поддерживая себя словно “пьющая ветер” (живущая воздухом), может обрести плод жертвенного обряда».

Word by Word

गवाढ्यःrich in cows; possessing many cattle

शाकदीक्षाभृत्one who bears/undertakes the vegetable-vow (dietary observance)

स्वर्गम्heaven

आहुःthey say; they have declared

तृणाशिनाम्of grass-eaters (those who subsist on grass)

स्त्रियःwomen

त्रिषवर्णम्three times (thrice); of three colors (context-dependent)

स्नात्वाhaving bathed

वायुम्air; wind

पीत्वाhaving drunk

क्रतुम्sacrifice; ritual act

लभेत्would obtain; may attain

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

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.

What is happening in the narrative?

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.