Shloka 61
Adhyaya 74 — King Svarashtra, the Deer-Queen’s Curse, and the Rise of Tamasa Manu
इत्येतत्तामसं विप्र मन्वन्तरमुदाहृतम् ।
यः पठेत् शृणुयाद्वापि तमसा स न बाध्यते ॥
ity etat tāmasaṃ vipra manvantaram udāhṛtam | yaḥ paṭhet śṛṇuyād vāpi tamasā sa na bādhyate ||
ఓ బ్రాహ్మణా, ఈ విధంగా తామస మన్వంతరం ప్రకటించబడింది. దీన్ని పఠించినవాడు గానీ, వినినవాడు గానీ తమస్ (అంధకారం) చేత బాధింపబడడు.
FAQs
Śravaṇa (hearing) and pāṭha (recitation) are presented as transformative disciplines: engaging with dharmic-cosmic narratives dispels ‘tamas’ understood as ignorance, lethargy, and moral confusion.
Manvantara, with an added Purāṇic phalaśruti that encourages preservation and transmission of the manvantara tradition.
The wordplay between ‘Tāmasa’ (a proper-noun Manu) and ‘tamas’ (darkness) implies that correct knowledge of cosmic order converts the very principle of darkness into a vehicle for insight—darkness is not ‘abolished’ but rendered non-binding.