Vānaprastha-dharma and Tapas: Śiva–Umā Saṃvāda
Forest-Stage Discipline and Austerity
अपो गच्छति यो ह्वात्र शशिनं होष प्रीणयेत् । शशी प्रीणयते देवान् पितृश्चैव महामते
apo gacchati yo hvātra śaśinaṃ hoṣa prīṇayet | śaśī prīṇayate devān pitṝṃś caiva mahāmate ||
Sứ giả chư thiên nói: “Ở đây, ai dâng nước mà làm vừa lòng Thần Nguyệt—hãy biết cho tường tận—thì cũng làm vừa lòng cả chư thiên lẫn tổ tiên, hỡi bậc hiền trí.”
देवदूत उवाच
Offering water as a devotional act to the Moon is presented as a dharmic practice whose merit extends beyond a single deity: by pleasing the Moon, one is said to please both the gods and the ancestors, emphasizing interconnected obligations to devas and pitṛs.
A divine messenger instructs the listener that a simple rite—offering water to gratify the Moon—has broader spiritual efficacy, linking lunar worship/propitiation with the satisfaction of the divine order (devas) and ancestral lineage (pitṛs).