Shloka 13
Pratyakṣa–Āgama–Ācāra: Doubt, Proof, and the Practice of Dharma (प्रत्यक्ष–आगम–आचारविचारः)
वननित्यैर्वनचरैर्वनस्थैर्वनगोचरै: । वन॑ गुरुमिवासाद्य वस्तव्यं वनजीविभि:
vananityair vanacarair vanasthair vanagocaraiḥ | vanaṁ gurum ivāsādya vastavyaṁ vanajīvibhiḥ ||
Wika ni Mahādeva: “Ang mga nabubuhay sa gubat ay dapat gawing palagiang tahanan ang gubat—gumalaw sa loob nito, manirahan dito, at sundan ang mga landas nito. Lapitan ang gubat na parang paglapit sa isang guro; doon magkanlong at doon itaguyod ang buhay.”
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches the dharma of one who has taken to forest-life: to make the forest one’s steady abode and discipline, treating it like a guru—i.e., living simply, restrained, and supported by what the forest provides rather than by worldly dependence.
Śrī Maheśvara is instructing on the proper conduct of forest-dwellers (vanajīvin/vanaprastha-type life), emphasizing continuous residence and movement within the forest and a reverential reliance on it as a guiding refuge.