Shloka 806
Vānaprastha-dharma and Tapas: Śiva–Umā Saṃvāda
Forest-Stage Discipline and Austerity
तमोरूपं न तस्यास्ति दीपकं य: प्रयच्छति । वर्षा-ऋतुमें दीपदान करनेसे मनुष्य चन्द्रमाके समान शोभा पाता है। जो दीपदान करता है, उसके लिये नरकका अन्धकार है ही नहीं
tamorūpaṃ na tasyāsti dīpakaṃ yaḥ prayacchati |
तमोरूपं न तस्यास्ति दीपकं यः प्रयच्छति। वर्षासु दीपदानात् स चन्द्र इव शोभते; दीपदातुर्नरकान्धकारो न विद्यते॥
शक्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
Giving a lamp (dīpadāna) is praised as a dharmic act that symbolically and karmically dispels darkness; the donor gains radiance and is protected from the ‘darkness’ associated with hellish suffering.
Śakra (Indra) is speaking in a didactic context, commending the merit of charitable giving—specifically the gifting of a lamp—by stating that such a giver does not encounter darkness (understood as the darkness of naraka), and is likened to the moon in splendor.