Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 56
Vānaprastha-dharma and Tapas: Śiva–Umā Saṃvāda
Forest-Stage Discipline and Austerity
रश्मिभिस्तापितो<र्कस्य सर्वपापमपोहति । ग्रीष्मकाले5थ वा शीते एवं पापमपोहति
śakra uvāca | raśmibhis tāpito 'rkasya sarvapāpam apohati | grīṣmakāle 'tha vā śīte evaṃ pāpam apohati |
Sabi ni Śakra: “Ang sinumang pinaiinit ng mga sinag ng Araw ay naaalis ang lahat ng kasalanan. Maging sa init ng tag-araw o sa lamig ng panahon, ang pagpainit sa sinag ng Araw ay nag-aalis ng kasalanan sa ganitong paraan. Kaya ang tao’y nagiging malaya sa pagkakasala; at kapag napalaya na sa kasalanan, nakakamit niya ang di-nagmamaliw na ningning—nagniningas sa sariling liwanag na gaya ng Araw at maliwanag na gaya ng Buwan.”
शक्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
Contact with the Sun’s rays—enduring heat or cold with steadiness—functions as a purificatory discipline: it is said to destroy sin and yield lasting inner radiance (kānti/tejas). The ethical emphasis is on purification and transformation through disciplined endurance aligned with cosmic forces.
Indra (Śakra) is speaking as an instructor, describing a specific means of expiation/purification: being warmed by the Sun’s rays in different seasons. He links this practice to the removal of pāpa (sin) and the attainment of a luminous, exalted state.