Shloka 61
उपदेशदोषप्रसङ्गः (Upadeśa-doṣa-prasaṅgaḥ) — The Risk of Misapplied Counsel
एवं तवोग्रं हि तप उपदेशेन नाशितम् । पुरोहितत्वमुत्सृज्य यतस्व त्वं पुनर्भवे
evaṁ tavograṁ hi tapa upadeśena nāśitam | purohitattvam utsṛjya yatasva tvaṁ punarbhave ||
“你那严厉的苦行，确已因转而授人教诲而毁损。故当舍弃普罗希塔之职，再度精进修行——以越过轮回世海。”
पुरोहित उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse warns that intense spiritual discipline (tapas) can be compromised by worldly roles and engagements—here, the act of giving instruction is presented as a cause of loss of ascetic merit. The counsel is to relinquish the priestly office and return to focused striving aimed at liberation from repeated worldly becoming (punarbhava).
The speaker, identified as a purohita, addresses someone who had undertaken severe austerities. He states that those austerities have been nullified due to the act of giving counsel/teaching, and he urges the addressee to abandon priestly duties and resume spiritual effort directed toward crossing beyond samsaric existence.