Shloka 60
Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment
Parāśara’s Instruction
उस समय देवगुरु बृहस्पतिने महादेवजीको वेदका मखाध्याय पढ़कर सुनाया। तत्पश्चात् प्रजापति दक्ष दोनों नेत्रोंसे आँसुओंकी धारा बहाते हुए हाथ जोड़कर भय और शंकासे सहमे हुए-से बोले--“भगवन्! यदि आप मुझपर प्रसन्न हैं, यदि मैं आपका प्रिय हूँ, आपके अनुग्रहका पात्र हूँ अथवा यदि आप मुझे वर देनेको उद्यत हैं तो मैं यही वर माँगता हूँ कि मैंने दीर्घकालसे महान् प्रयत्न करके जो ऐसा यज्ञ-सम्भार जुटा रखा था, उसमेंसे जो चला दिया गया, खा-पी लिया गया, नष्ट किया गया अथवा चूर-चूर करके फेंक दिया गया, वह सब मेरे लिये व्यर्थ न हो”
tadā devaguruḥ bṛhaspatiḥ mahādevāya vedasya makhādhyāyaṃ paṭhitvā śrāvayām āsa | tataḥ prajāpatiḥ dakṣaḥ ubhayābhyāṃ netrābhyāṃ aśrudhārāṃ muñcan añjaliṃ kṛtvā bhayaśaṅkābhyāṃ saṃtrastavat uvāca— “bhagavan! yadi tvam mayi prasannaḥ, yadi ahaṃ tava priyaḥ, tava anugrahapātraḥ athavā yadi tvam me varaṃ dātum udyataḥ, tadā aham etad eva varaṃ yāce— mayā dīrghakālena mahāprayatnena yaḥ eṣa yajāsaṃbhāraḥ saṃbhṛtaḥ, tasmāt yat apahṛtaṃ, bhukta-pītaṃ, naṣṭaṃ athavā cūrṇīkṛtya kṣiptaṃ, tat sarvaṃ mama vyarthaṃ mā bhūt.”
At that time, the preceptor of the gods, Bṛhaspati, recited and explained to Mahādeva the Vedic section concerning the sacrificial rite. Thereafter Prajāpati Dakṣa—his eyes streaming with tears—joined his palms and, trembling with fear and doubt, spoke: “O Lord! If you are pleased with me—if I am dear to you, worthy of your grace, or if you are ready to grant me a boon—then I ask only this: may the sacrificial preparations that I gathered over a long time with great effort not become futile, even though some of them were carried off, eaten and drunk, destroyed, or crushed and scattered.”
वीरभद्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights humility and the seeking of divine grace after wrongdoing or conflict: Dakṣa, shaken and repentant, asks that his long, sincere effort in preparing the sacrifice not be rendered meaningless despite the damage. Ethically, it underscores accountability, the value of sincere effort, and the hope that reconciliation can restore what pride and hostility have disrupted.
Bṛhaspati recites a Vedic ritual section to Mahādeva. Then Dakṣa, weeping and fearful, approaches with folded hands and requests a boon: that the sacrificial materials he had painstakingly assembled—though stolen, consumed, destroyed, or scattered during the upheaval—should not become futile for him.