Shloka 59
Kāla (Right Time), Effort, and the Ethics of Giving — कालः, प्रयत्नः, दानधर्मश्च
एतत् ते गुह्माख्यातं यथा शूद्रो भवेद् द्विज: । ब्राह्मणो वा च्युतो धर्माद् यथा शूद्रत्वमाप्तुते
etat te guhyam ākhyātaṁ yathā śūdro bhaved dvijaḥ | brāhmaṇo vā cyuto dharmād yathā śūdratvam āpnute ||
Maheshvara nói: “Nay ta đã bày tỏ cho ngươi điều bí mật này: làm sao một śūdra có thể trở thành ‘nhị sinh’ (dvija), và cũng vậy, làm sao một brāhmaṇa sa ngã khỏi dharma lại rơi xuống địa vị śūdra.”
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Varṇa-status is presented as ethically contingent: uplift is possible through right conduct and qualification, while decline follows from deviation from dharma. The verse frames this as a ‘secret’ principle—moral and spiritual behavior, not mere birth-pride, determines one’s standing.
Śrī Maheśvara, as the speaker, concludes or summarizes an instruction by stating that he has revealed a confidential doctrine explaining two movements: how a śūdra may rise to the status of a dvija, and how a brāhmaṇa who slips from dharma may fall into śūdratva.