Shloka 15

Pratyakṣa–Āgama–Ācāra: Doubt, Proof, and the Practice of Dharma (प्रत्यक्ष–आगम–आचारविचारः)

Devanagari script

अष्टमीयज्ञपरता चातुर्मास्यनिषेवणम्‌ । पौर्णमासादयो यज्ञा नित्ययज्ञस्तथैव च

Transliteration

aṣṭamīyajñaparatā cāturmāsyaniṣevaṇam | paurṇamāsādayo yajñā nityayajñas tathaiva ca ||

Translation

మహాదేవుడు పలికెను—వానప్రస్థ మునికి ధర్మమిదే: అష్టమీ-యజ్ఞం (అష్టకా కర్మ) పట్ల నిబద్ధత, చాతుర్మాస్య వ్రతాచరణ, పౌర్ణమాసాది యజ్ఞములు మరియు నిత్యయజ్ఞమును నియమంగా నిర్వహించడం.

Word by Word

• अष्टमी-यज्ञ-परता: devotion/absorption in the Aṣṭamī-sacrifice
• अष्टमी-यज्ञ-परता: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: परता (पर)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• चातुर्मास्य-निषेवणम्: observance/practice of the Cāturmāsya (rites/vow)
• चातुर्मास्य-निषेवणम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: निषेवण (निष्+सेव्)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• पौर्णमास-आदयः: Paurṇamāsa and the others (beginning with it)
• पौर्णमास-आदयः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: आदि
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• यज्ञाः: sacrifices
• यज्ञाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: यज्ञ
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• नित्य-यज्ञः: the daily/regular sacrifice
• नित्य-यज्ञः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: यज्ञ
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• तथा: and likewise
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

• एव: indeed/just
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

Speaker

श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Śrīmahādeva (Maheśvara)
• Aṣṭamī (tithi)
• Cāturmāsya (vow/observance)
• Paurṇamāsa (rite)
• Nitya-yajña (daily rites)
• Vānaprastha (forest-dweller stage of life)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse defines vānaprastha-dharma as disciplined continuity in sacred obligations: observing periodic vows (Cāturmāsya), performing calendrical rites (like Paurṇamāsa), and maintaining daily worship/sacrifice (nitya-yajña). Ethical life here is framed as steadiness, restraint, and fidelity to prescribed duty.

What is happening in the narrative?

Maheśvara is instructing about the duties of the forest-dweller stage of life. Rather than describing an external event, the passage lists the ritual and vow-based practices that constitute the vānaprastha’s regulated religious routine.