संत साहित्य · Guru Charitra · Chapters

Chapter 28 — Advice of Karma Vipak to the Harijan

Literal. Shri Guru explains the Harijan's previous-life karmas and the corresponding consequences. The chapter is essentially a compressed karmic-classifier — for each kind of misdeed, the consequence-class is named: one who steals gold suffers from syphilis; one who steals horses suffers from glands in the neck; one who takes another's wife becomes a Brahma-Rakshas; one who takes money offered to god becomes a leper. The chapter then lists prayashchittas (purifications): Brahmadand, gift of cow, gold coin, recitation of Gayatri, prescribed fasts.

Symbolic. Karma as bookkeeping operation — every action has a class-tagged consequence; remediation is action-class-specific.

Structural. Approximately 25–30 distinct misdeed-consequence pairs named in this single chapter. The taxonomy is unusually dense.

Verse by verse

श्रीगणेशाय नमः ।

śrīgaṇeśāya namaḥ |

Salutations to Śrī Gaṇeśa.

The chapter opens, as is custom, by invoking Gaṇeśa (remover of obstacles) before the guru's teaching on karma and its consequences begins.

Begin any serious undertaking by first quieting the mind and asking for help in clearing the obstacles ahead.

नामधारक म्हणे सिद्धासी । पुढील कथा सांग आम्हांसी । उल्हास माझे मानसी । गुरुचरित्र अतिगोड ॥१॥

nāmadhāraka mhaṇe siddhāsī | puḍhīla kathā sāmga āmhāmsī | ulhāsa mājhe mānasī | gurucaritra atigoḍa ||1||

Nāmadhāraka says to Siddha: 'Tell us the story that follows; my mind is full of eagerness — the Gurucharitra is exceedingly sweet.'

The listener's hunger for the guru's teaching itself becomes the doorway through which the next lesson can enter.

Approach study or guidance with genuine eagerness, not obligation — enthusiasm opens the mind to learn.

सिद्ध म्हणे नामधारका । कथा असे अतिविशेष । ऐकता जाती सर्व दोष । ज्ञानज्योतिप्रकाशे ॥२॥

siddha mhaṇe nāmadhārakā | kathā ase ativiśeṣa | aikatā jātī sarva doṣa | jñānajyotiprakāśe ||2||

Siddha says: 'O Nāmadhāraka, this story is exceedingly special; hearing it, all faults depart, through the light of knowledge.'

Right listening is presented as itself purifying — the jñāna-jyoti (light of knowledge) dispels faults the way light dispels darkness.

Trust that sincerely absorbing wise teaching can itself begin to clear old faults, not merely inform you about them.

श्रीगुरु म्हणती पतितासी । आपुले पूर्वजन्म पुससी । सांगेन ऐक परियेसी । चांडालजन्म होणार गति ॥३॥

śrīguru mhaṇatī patitāsī | āpule pūrvajanma pusasī | sāmgena aika pariyesī | cāmḍālajanma hoṇāra gati ||3||

Śrī Guru says to the fallen one: 'You ask about your former birth; listen and I will tell you — the state that led to birth as an outcast (chāṇḍāla).'

The guru does not shame the seeker but answers the honest question of why — showing that today's suffering has an explainable cause in past action, not blind fate.

When facing hardship, ask honestly how you arrived here rather than assuming it is meaningless bad luck.

पुण्यपापांची गति । आपुले आर्जव भोगिती । कर्मविपाकी असे ख्याति । नीचश्रेष्ठकर्मानुसारी ॥४॥

puṇyapāpāmcī gati | āpule ārjava bhogitī | karmavipākī ase khyāti | nīcaśreṣṭhakarmānusārī ||4||

The course of merit and sin is such that one reaps the fruit of one's own conduct; this is known as karma-vipāka (the ripening of action), according to base or noble deeds.

The chapter's guiding idea is stated plainly: actions ripen into their own matching fruit, low deeds yielding low results and high deeds yielding high ones.

Judge your daily choices by what fruit you want to reap, not just their immediate convenience.

विप्र क्षत्रिय वैश्य शूद्र वर्ण । यांचेपासाव चांडाल वर्ण । उपजला असता ज्ञातिहीन । जातिविभाग कर्मापरी ॥५॥

vipra kṣatriya vaiśya śūdra varṇa | yāmcepāsāva cāmḍāla varṇa | upajalā asatā jñātihīna | jātivibhāga karmāparī ||5||

From the four varṇas — Brāhmaṇa, Kṣatriya, Vaiśya, Śūdra — the outcast (chāṇḍāla) class is born casteless; the division into jātis follows conduct.

The text frames social station, within its own cosmology, as flowing from action rather than birth alone — a way of insisting that conduct, not claimed status, truly defines a person.

Judge yourself and others by conduct rather than by label or birth circumstance.

विप्रस्त्रियेपासी देखा । शूद्र जाय व्यभिचारिका । पिंड उपजे तो चांडालिका । सोळावी जाती चांडाल ॥६॥

viprastriyepāsī dekhā | śūdra jāya vyabhicārikā | pimḍa upaje to cāmḍālikā | soḷāvī jātī cāmḍāla ||6||

If a Śūdra unites illicitly with a Brāhmaṇa woman, the child conceived is a chāṇḍālikā; the sixteenth caste is the chāṇḍāla.

This verse, in the text's traditional taxonomy, treats transgression of marital and social boundaries as producing lasting harm — an ancient way of underscoring that broken fidelity has real consequence.

Honor commitments of fidelity, since broken trust echoes forward into what you build afterward.

हे मूळ उत्पत्तीचे लक्षण । नाना दोषांचे आचरण । तेणे हीन जन्म घेणे । विप्रादि चारी वर्णांसी ॥७॥

he mūḷa utpattīce lakṣaṇa | nānā doṣāmce ācaraṇa | teṇe hīna janma gheṇe | viprādi cārī varṇāmsī ||7||

This is the root pattern of such origins — through the practice of manifold faults, even people of all four varṇas come to take a degraded birth.

No status is a permanent shield — the text insists that misconduct can pull down anyone, regardless of starting station.

Do not rely on your position or reputation to protect you from the consequences of poor conduct.

या दोषाचा विस्तार । सांगतो की सविस्तर । विप्रे करिता अनाचा । जन्म हीनजाती पावे ॥८॥

yā doṣācā vistāra | sāmgato kī savistara | vipre karitā anācā | janma hīnajātī pāve ||8||

I shall now tell in detail the extent of this fault: if a Brāhmaṇa commits improper conduct, he attains birth in a lowly caste.

The teaching turns to specifics, beginning with the highest station — greater knowledge brings greater responsibility, and its abuse a proportionately greater fall.

The more privilege or knowledge you hold, hold yourself to a correspondingly higher standard of conduct.

गुरु अथवा मातापिता । सांडोनि जाय तत्त्वतां । चांडालजन्म होय निरुता । सोडिता कुलस्त्रियेसी ॥९॥

guru athavā mātāpitā | sāmḍoni jāya tattvatām | cāmḍālajanma hoya nirutā | soḍitā kulastriyesī ||9||

One who truly abandons guru or parents, or forsakes his own wedded wife, is certain to take an outcast birth.

Loyalty to those who gave one life and guidance — parents, guru, spouse — is treated as a foundational duty whose betrayal carries the gravest consequence in this catalog.

Do not abandon those bound to you by duty and love; care for parents, teachers, and spouse even when it is hard.

कुलदेवता सोडोनि एका । पूजा करी आणिका । तो होय चांडाल देखा । सदा अनृत बोले नर ॥१०॥

kuladevatā soḍoni ekā | pūjā karī āṇikā | to hoya cāmḍāla dekhā | sadā anṛta bole nara ||10||

One who abandons the family deity to worship another becomes an outcast; so too does one who habitually speaks untruth.

Rootedness — in one's given practice of faith and in truthful speech — is treated as a form of integrity; abandoning either is framed as self-uprooting.

Stay honest in speech and steady in your practice rather than chasing whatever seems momentarily more appealing.

सदा जीवहिंसा करी । कन्याविक्रय मनोहरी । लटिकेचि आपण प्रमाण करी । तोही जन्मे चांडालयोनी ॥११॥

sadā jīvahimsā karī | kanyāvikraya manoharī | laṭikeci āpaṇa pramāṇa karī | tohī janme cāmḍālayonī ||11||

One who constantly harms living creatures, sells his daughter for gain, or falsely swears something to be true — he too is born in the outcast womb.

Cruelty toward the vulnerable — animals, one's own daughter treated as property, and dishonest oaths — are grouped as violations of the trust owed to the weak.

Never trade the wellbeing of someone dependent on you, human or animal, for personal gain.

शूद्रहस्ते करी भोजन । अश्वविक्रय करी ब्राह्मण । तोही चांडाल होय जाण । सदा शूद्रसंपर्कै ॥१२॥

śūdrahaste karī bhojana | aśvavikraya karī brāhmaṇa | tohī cāmḍāla hoya jāṇa | sadā śūdrasamparkai ||12||

A Brāhmaṇa who eats food served by a Śūdra's hand, or who sells a horse, likewise becomes an outcast, through constant improper association.

In its social logic, the text treats disregard for one's own established discipline and vocation as self-degrading, whatever the specific custom.

Keep faithful to the standards you have set for yourself rather than drifting from them out of convenience.

शूद्रस्त्रीसी सदा संग । नित्य असे दासीयोग । गृहभांड अतळती त्याग । तेणे देवपितृकर्मे करी ॥१३॥

śūdrastrīsī sadā samga | nitya ase dāsīyoga | gṛhabhāmḍa ataḷatī tyāga | teṇe devapitṛkarme karī ||13||

One who keeps constant company with a Śūdra woman, lives always as if a servant, and neglects the household's ritual vessels while performing rites for gods and ancestors carelessly, falls likewise.

Carelessness in the small disciplines surrounding sacred duty — the state of one's tools, one's company, one's attention — is shown to corrode the duty itself.

Keep the small habits around your responsibilities in order; neglect there quietly undermines the larger duty.

तोही पावे हीनयोनी । जो का अग्नि-घाली रानी । गायवासरांसी विघडोनि । वेगळी करी तोही । होय चांडाल ॥१४॥

tohī pāve hīnayonī | jo kā agni-ghālī rānī | gāyavāsarāmsī vighaḍoni | vegaḷī karī tohī | hoya cāmḍāla ||14||

He too attains a lowly birth who sets fire in the forest, or who separates cows from their calves and keeps them apart — he too becomes an outcast.

Harming the natural world and severing a mother from her young are treated as violations against life itself, deserving the same weight as human betrayals.

Extend your sense of duty to nature and to animal bonds, not only to human relationships.

सोडी आपुल्या जननीते । आणि मारी लेकराते । वेगळी करी आपुल्या सत्ते । तोही जन्मे चांडाल ॥१५॥

soḍī āpulyā jananīte | āṇi mārī lekarāte | vegaḷī karī āpulyā satte | tohī janme cāmḍāla ||15||

One who abandons his own mother and kills a child, separating them by his own will, is likewise born an outcast.

Violence against the most defenseless — mother and child — sits at the extreme end of this catalog of broken duty.

Protect, never harm, those who depend on you and cannot defend themselves.

बैलावरी विप्र बैसे । शूद्रान्न जेवी हर्षे । चांडाल होय भरवसे । ऐसे म्हणती श्रीगुरु ॥१६॥

bailāvarī vipra baise | śūdrānna jevī harṣe | cāmḍāla hoya bharavase | aise mhaṇatī śrīguru ||16||

A Brāhmaṇa who rides upon a labor-bull, or who eats a Śūdra's food with relish, assuredly becomes an outcast — so says Śrī Guru.

Even small departures from one's chosen discipline, done casually and without a second thought, are said to accumulate real consequence.

Do not treat small breaches of your own standards as harmless; habits form from exactly such small slips.

विप्र तीर्थास जावोन । श्राद्धादि न करी जाण । परान्न प्रतिग्रह घेणे । तो होय चांडाल ॥१७॥

vipra tīrthāsa jāvona | śrāddhādi na karī jāṇa | parānna pratigraha gheṇe | to hoya cāmḍāla ||17||

A Brāhmaṇa who goes to a sacred place but knowingly fails to perform the ancestral rites, and who accepts another's food as alms, becomes an outcast.

Outward pilgrimage without the inward duty it was meant to fulfill is treated as empty, even harmful — form without substance corrodes rather than purifies.

When you undertake a spiritual practice, complete its true purpose rather than performing only its visible form.

षट्‍कर्मेरहित विप्र देखा । कपिला गाईचे दुग्ध ऐका । न करिता अभिषेका । क्षीरपान जो करी ॥१८॥

ṣaṭ‍karmerahita vipra dekhā | kapilā gāīce dugdha aikā | na karitā abhiṣekā | kṣīrapāna jo karī ||18||

Listen: a Brāhmaṇa who neglects the six prescribed duties, and who drinks the milk of a sacred kapilā cow without first offering it in ritual bathing, falls likewise.

Consuming what was meant first for offering, before honoring the sacred, is treated as a subtle theft from the divine.

Give thanks and offer the first portion of your blessings before you consume them for yourself.

तोही पावे चांडालयोनी । तुळसीपत्रे ओरपोनि । पूजा करी देवांलागोनि । शालिग्राम शूद्रे भजलिया ॥१९॥

tohī pāve cāmḍālayonī | tuḷasīpatre oraponi | pūjā karī devāmlāgoni | śāligrāma śūdre bhajaliyā ||19||

He too attains the outcast womb who gulps down sacred tulsī leaves carelessly while worshipping the gods, and likewise if the sacred śāligrāma stone is worshipped by a Śūdra without proper right.

Even devotion done carelessly or outside its proper bounds is treated as a fault — the text insists that reverence requires attentiveness, not mere gesture.

Bring full attention and proper care to acts of devotion rather than performing them absentmindedly.

न सेवीच मातापिता । त्यजी त्यासी न प्रतिपाळिता । चांडाल होय जन्मता । सप्तजन्मी कृमि होय ॥२०॥

na sevīca mātāpitā | tyajī tyāsī na pratipāḷitā | cāmḍāla hoya janmatā | saptajanmī kṛmi hoya ||20||

One who does not serve his mother and father, who abandons them without support, is born an outcast, and for seven births becomes a worm.

Neglect of aged parents draws the text's harshest imagery — a debasement repeated across many lifetimes, underscoring how gravely this duty is regarded.

Care for your parents in their need; this duty, more than most, shapes what kind of person you become.

पहिली एक स्त्री असता । दुजी करोनि तिसी त्यजिता । होय जन्म त्यासी पतिता । आणिक सांगेन एक नवल ॥२१॥

pahilī eka strī asatā | dujī karoni tisī tyajitā | hoya janma tyāsī patitā | āṇika sāmgena eka navala ||21||

Having one wife, and then taking a second while abandoning the first — he attains a fallen birth. I will tell you now another wonder.

Abandoning a first commitment for a second is placed alongside the gravest failures of duty — loyalty once given is treated as binding.

Honor the commitments you have already made before pursuing new ones that would require breaking them.

श्रमोनि अतिथी आला असता । वेद म्हणवोनि अन्न घालिता । जन्म पावे हा तत्त्वता । चांडालयोनी परियेसा ॥२२॥

śramoni atithī ālā asatā | veda mhaṇavoni anna ghālitā | janma pāve hā tattvatā | cāmḍālayonī pariyesā ||22||

When a weary guest arrives and one, using recitation of the Vedas as pretext, withholds food from him, he truly attains birth — listen — in the outcast womb.

Hospitality is treated as a duty that outranks even ritual observance — using piety as an excuse to withhold basic kindness is itself impious.

Never let religious observance become an excuse to turn away someone in need of simple hospitality.

योग्य विप्रांते निंदिती । आणिक जाती पूजिती । चांडालयोनी जाती । वृत्तिलोप केलिया ॥२३॥

yogya viprāmte nimditī | āṇika jātī pūjitī | cāmḍālayonī jātī | vṛttilopa keliyā ||23||

One who insults worthy Brāhmaṇas and instead honors unworthy people, abandoning his rightful livelihood in the process, goes to the outcast womb.

Misjudging whom to honor, and abandoning one's proper vocation in the process, is treated as a double failure of discernment and duty.

Give respect where it is earned, and do not neglect your rightful work to chase favor elsewhere.

तळी विहिरी फोडी मोडी । शिवालयी पूजा तोडी । ब्राह्मणांची घरे मोडी । तोही जन्मे पतितकुळी ॥२४॥

taḷī vihirī phoḍī moḍī | śivālayī pūjā toḍī | brāhmaṇāmcī ghare moḍī | tohī janme patitakuḷī ||24||

One who breaks and destroys ponds and wells, disrupts worship at a Śiva temple, or demolishes Brāhmaṇas' houses, is likewise born into a fallen family.

Destroying the shared resources and sacred spaces a community depends on — water, worship, shelter — is treated as an offense against the whole community, not just individuals.

Protect and maintain the shared resources your community depends on rather than damaging them for private gain.

स्वामिस्त्रियेसी । शत्रुमित्रविश्वासस्त्रीसी । जो करी व्याभिचारासी । तोही जन्मे पतितागृही ॥२५॥

svāmistriyesī | śatrumitraviśvāsastrīsī | jo karī vyābhicārāsī | tohī janme patitāgṛhī ||25||

Whoever commits adultery with his master's wife, or with the wife of an enemy or a trusted friend, is likewise born into a fallen household.

Betraying the specific trust of a master or a friend through adultery is singled out as compounding the wrong of infidelity itself.

Guard the trust placed in you by employers and friends as carefully as any other sacred trust.

दोघी स्त्रिया जयासी । त्यात ठेवी प्रपंचेसी । अतिथि आलिया अस्तमानासी । ग्रास न दे तोही पतित होय ॥२६॥

doghī striyā jayāsī | tyāta ṭhevī prapamcesī | atithi āliyā astamānāsī | grāsa na de tohī patita hoya ||26||

One who has two wives and keeps one neglected under the household's burden, and who, when a guest arrives at dusk, gives no morsel of food, likewise becomes fallen.

Neglecting a dependent wife and turning away a guest at day's end are grouped as twin failures of the duty to provide for those who rely on you.

Do not let those under your care go neglected while you attend to appearances elsewhere.

त्रिसंध्यासमयी देखा । जो विप्र जेवी अविवेका । भाक देउनी फिरे निका । तो जन्मे चांडालयोनी ॥२७॥

trisamdhyāsamayī dekhā | jo vipra jevī avivekā | bhāka deunī phire nikā | to janme cāmḍālayonī ||27||

The Brāhmaṇa who eats carelessly during the three sacred twilight hours, and who gives his word only to break it, is born in the outcast womb.

Breaking one's sacred schedule of devotion, and breaking one's given word, are treated as parallel betrayals of discipline.

Keep the promises you make and the disciplines you have set for yourself, even when no one is watching.

राजे देती भूमिदान । आपण घेती हिरोन । संध्याकाली करी शयन । तोही होय चांडाल ॥२८॥

rāje detī bhūmidāna | āpaṇa ghetī hirona | samdhyākālī karī śayana | tohī hoya cāmḍāla ||28||

A king who gives land as a gift and then takes it back himself, or who sleeps through the sacred twilight hour, likewise becomes an outcast.

Even rulers are not exempt: reneging on a public gift, or neglecting one's own devotional discipline, brings the same consequence as it would for anyone else.

Do not take back what you have freely given, and do not let power exempt you from your own daily discipline.

वैश्वदेवकालि अतिथीसी । जो करी दुष्टोत्तरेसी । अन्न न देई तयासी । कुक्कुटजन्म होवोनि उपजे ॥२९॥

vaiśvadevakāli atithīsī | jo karī duṣṭottaresī | anna na deī tayāsī | kukkuṭajanma hovoni upaje ||29||

One who, at the time of the evening offering, answers a guest harshly and gives him no food, is born taking the birth of a rooster.

Rudeness paired with withheld hospitality earns its own vivid consequence in this catalog — a reminder that tone matters as much as the act itself.

Speak gently to those you serve, even when you have little to give; unkind words compound a small refusal into a greater wrong.

गंगातीर्थांची निंदा करी । एकादशी भोजन करी । स्वामीस सोडी समरी । चांडालयोनी तया जन्म ॥३०॥

gamgātīrthāmcī nimdā karī | ekādaśī bhojana karī | svāmīsa soḍī samarī | cāmḍālayonī tayā janma ||30||

One who disparages the Gaṅgā and sacred river-fords, eats food on the fast day of Ekādaśī, or abandons his lord on the battlefield, has an outcast birth.

Disregard for sacred places, for one's own vows of self-restraint, and for loyalty in crisis are grouped as three faces of the same failure — abandoning what one owes at the moment it is tested.

Stay loyal and disciplined precisely when it is difficult, not only when it is easy.

स्त्री संभोगी पर्वणीसी । अथवा हरिहरादिवशी । वेद शिकवी शूद्रासी । चांडालयोनी जन्म पावे ॥३१॥

strī sambhogī parvaṇīsī | athavā hariharādivaśī | veda śikavī śūdrāsī | cāmḍālayonī janma pāve ||31||

One who indulges in union with his wife on a sacred fast day, or on a day devoted to Hari or Hara, or who teaches the Vedas to a Śūdra against custom, attains birth in the outcast womb.

Right timing and right context for one's actions — even lawful actions like marital union or teaching — matters as much as the action itself in this teaching.

Be mindful of timing and context; even a good action done at the wrong moment can cause harm.

मृत्युदिवसी न करी श्राद्ध । केले पुण्य सांगे प्रसिद्ध । वाटेकरांसी करी भेद । चांडालयोनी जन्म पावे ॥३२॥

mṛtyudivasī na karī śrāddha | kele puṇya sāmge prasiddha | vāṭekarāmsī karī bheda | cāmḍālayonī janma pāve ||32||

One who fails to perform the annual death rites, boasts about the merit he has earned, or discriminates unfairly among fellow travelers, attains birth in the outcast womb.

Neglecting remembrance of the dead, boasting of one's own good deeds, and treating companions unequally are grouped as failures of humility and remembrance.

Remember those who came before you with quiet duty, and treat your companions equally rather than boasting of your own virtue.

ग्रीष्मकाली अरण्यात । पोई घालिती ज्ञानवंत । तेथे विघ्न जो करी । तोही जन्मे चांडालयोनी ॥३३॥

grīṣmakālī araṇyāta | poī ghālitī jñānavamta | tethe vighna jo karī | tohī janme cāmḍālayonī ||33||

In summer, in the forest, the wise set up water-stations for travelers; whoever obstructs this act of charity is likewise born in the outcast womb.

Sabotaging another's act of public charity is treated as its own distinct wrong — hindering good is as culpable as failing to do good.

Never obstruct or discourage someone else's genuine act of service, even if you are not the one performing it.

नाडीभेद न कळता वैद्यकी । जाणोनि औषधे दे आणिकी । तो होय महापातकी । चांडालयोनीत संभवे ॥३४॥

nāḍībheda na kaḷatā vaidyakī | jāṇoni auṣadhe de āṇikī | to hoya mahāpātakī | cāmḍālayonīta sambhave ||34||

One who, without truly knowing the pulse-diagnosis of medicine, nonetheless gives medicines to others claiming knowledge, becomes a great sinner and arises in the outcast womb.

False expertise that risks others' health or safety is treated as a serious deceit, not a harmless mistake.

Never claim expertise you do not have when someone else's wellbeing depends on your honesty about your limits.

जारण मारण मोहनादि । मंत्र जपती कुबुद्धि । जन्म चांडाल होय त्रिशुद्धी । वेदमार्ग त्यजिता विप्रे ॥३५॥

jāraṇa māraṇa mohanādi | mamtra japatī kubuddhi | janma cāmḍāla hoya triśuddhī | vedamārga tyajitā vipre ||35||

One who, with evil intent, chants mantras for bewitching, harming, or enchanting others, is certain — thrice certain — to be born an outcast, a Brāhmaṇa who has abandoned the Vedic path.

Using sacred knowledge as a weapon to harm others through sorcery is treated as the deepest betrayal of that knowledge's purpose.

Never turn skill or knowledge that could help others into a tool to harm or manipulate them.

श्रीगुरुसी नर म्हणे कोण । हरिहराते निंदे जाण । अन्य देवतांचे करी पूजन । तो नर पतित होय ॥३६॥

śrīgurusī nara mhaṇe koṇa | hariharāte nimde jāṇa | anya devatāmce karī pūjana | to nara patita hoya ||36||

No one may equate a mere man with Śrī Guru; one who disparages Hari and Hara knowingly, and worships other deities out of disrespect, becomes fallen.

Reverence for one's guru and for the divine is treated as inviolable — mockery of either is placed among the gravest faults.

Hold your genuine sources of guidance and reverence in respect, even when others mock them.

ब्राह्मण क्षत्रिय वैश्य शूद्र । आपुले कर्म त्यजूनि मंद । आणिक कर्म आचरे सदा । तोही होय चांडाल ॥३७॥

brāhmaṇa kṣatriya vaiśya śūdra | āpule karma tyajūni mamda | āṇika karma ācare sadā | tohī hoya cāmḍāla ||37||

Whether Brāhmaṇa, Kṣatriya, Vaiśya, or Śūdra, one who foolishly abandons his own proper duty and constantly practices another's instead, likewise becomes an outcast.

Straying persistently from one's own rightful calling, in the text's framing, is itself corrosive — not because other work is lesser, but because abandoning one's duty is a form of self-neglect.

Attend faithfully to the responsibilities that are genuinely yours before taking on others' out of restlessness or vanity.

शूद्रापासूनी मंत्र शिके । त्यासी घडती सर्व पातके । गंगोदक क्षीरोदके । श्वानचर्मी घातले परी ॥३८॥

śūdrāpāsūnī mamtra śike | tyāsī ghaḍatī sarva pātake | gamgodaka kṣīrodake | śvānacarmī ghātale parī ||38||

One who learns a mantra from a Śūdra outside its proper transmission incurs every sin thereby — as if Gaṅgā water and milk were poured into a dog's hide.

Receiving sacred teaching outside its proper, respectful channel is likened to pouring something pure into an unfit vessel — the value is wasted, even corrupted, by wrong context.

Seek guidance and learning through channels you can trust and respect, not carelessly from any source.

विधवा स्त्रीशी संग करी । शिव्या देऊन अतिथि जेववी घरी । श्राद्धदिनी पिंड न करी । चांडालयोनी तो जन्मे ॥३९॥

vidhavā strīśī samga karī | śivyā deūna atithi jevavī gharī | śrāddhadinī pimḍa na karī | cāmḍālayonī to janme ||39||

One who unites with a widow, feeds a guest at home while abusing him with curses, or fails to prepare the ritual offering on the death-anniversary day, is born in the outcast womb.

Cruelty disguised as generosity — feeding someone while cursing them — is treated as worse than open refusal, since it wounds under the appearance of kindness.

If you help someone, do so with genuine goodwill; grudging help delivered with contempt harms more than it heals.

माता पिता गुरु द्वेषी । तो जन्मे चांडालयोनीसी । आणिक जन्म पापवंशी । उपजोनि येती परियेसा ॥४०॥

mātā pitā guru dveṣī | to janme cāmḍālayonīsī | āṇika janma pāpavamśī | upajoni yetī pariyesā ||40||

One who hates his mother, father, or guru is born in the outcast womb; and other births into sinful lineages likewise come about, listen.

Hatred directed at those owed love and reverence is treated as the root fault from which many other degraded births branch.

Root out any resentment you carry toward parents or teachers before it hardens into something that shapes your whole life.

गुरूची निंदा करी हर्षी । सदा असे विप्रद्वेषी । वेदचर्चा करी बहुवशी । तो होय ब्रह्मराक्षस ॥४१॥

gurūcī nimdā karī harṣī | sadā ase vipradveṣī | vedacarcā karī bahuvaśī | to hoya brahmarākṣasa ||41||

One who joyfully disparages the guru, is habitually hostile toward Brāhmaṇas, yet extensively discusses Vedic matters, becomes a brahma-rākṣasa (a tormented spirit of misused sacred learning).

Knowledge without reverence becomes dangerous — the text warns that learning paired with contempt for one's teachers curdles into something haunted rather than wise.

Let your learning deepen your respect for those who taught you, not feed contempt for them.

भजे आपण एक दैवत । दुजे देव निंदा करीत । तो होय अपस्मारित । दरिद्ररूपे पीडतसे ॥४२॥

bhaje āpaṇa eka daivata | duje deva nimdā karīta | to hoya apasmārita | daridrarūpe pīḍatase ||42||

One who worships one deity while disparaging other gods becomes afflicted with seizures and is troubled in the form of poverty.

Narrow devotion that curdles into contempt for other paths of worship is treated as self-harming, not pious.

Practice your own faith wholeheartedly without belittling the sincere devotion of others.

माता पिता गुरु वर्जोन । वेगळा होय स्त्री आपण । बेरडाचे पोटी उपजोन । रोगी होऊन राहतसे ॥४३॥

mātā pitā guru varjona | vegaḷā hoya strī āpaṇa | beraḍāce poṭī upajona | rogī hoūna rāhatase ||43||

One who abandons mother, father, and guru, and estranges himself even from his own wife, is born into a hunter-tribe's womb and remains sickly.

Severing every bond of duty at once — family, teacher, spouse — is treated as producing the most thorough kind of isolation and suffering.

Do not let pride or anger cut you off from every relationship that anchors you; isolation compounds suffering.

सदा वेद दूषी आपण । अवमानीत ब्राह्मण । कर्मभ्रष्ट होय आपण । मूत्रकृच्छ्ररोगी होय ॥४४॥

sadā veda dūṣī āpaṇa | avamānīta brāhmaṇa | karmabhraṣṭa hoya āpaṇa | mūtrakṛcchrarogī hoya ||44||

One who constantly disparages the Vedas and dishonors Brāhmaṇas becomes fallen from his own duty and afflicted with a painful urinary disease.

Contempt for sacred learning and its keepers is treated as eroding one's own footing in duty, with bodily suffering as its visible echo.

Guard against contempt for traditions and teachers you do not yet understand.

लोकांचे वर्मकर्म आपण । सदा करी उच्चारण । ह्रदयरोगी होय जाण । महाकष्ट भोगीतसे ॥४५॥

lokāmce varmakarma āpaṇa | sadā karī uccāraṇa | hradayarogī hoya jāṇa | mahākaṣṭa bhogītase ||45||

One who constantly exposes others' private, sensitive matters aloud becomes afflicted with heart disease and suffers great hardship.

Betraying others' confidences is linked, in this catalog, to affliction of the very organ associated with feeling and trust — the heart.

Keep others' private matters private; gossip about someone's vulnerabilities wounds trust and, the text suggests, comes back on you.

गर्भपात करी स्त्रियेसी । वांझ होवोनि उपजे परियेसी । पुत्र झालिया मरती त्वरेसी । गर्भपात करू नये ॥४६॥

garbhapāta karī striyesī | vāmjha hovoni upaje pariyesī | putra jhāliyā maratī tvaresī | garbhapāta karū naye ||46||

One who causes a woman's abortion is himself born barren, listen; if sons are born to him they die swiftly — abortion should never be done.

The text places the taking of unborn life among its gravest wrongs, with the corresponding loss of the ability to have children of one's own.

Hold the sanctity of new life in the highest regard in your own choices and counsel to others.

धर्मशास्त्रादि पुराण । सांगता नायके जाण । आणिक जेविता दृष्टि आपण । बहिरट होवोनि उपजे ॥४७॥

dharmaśāstrādi purāṇa | sāmgatā nāyake jāṇa | āṇika jevitā dṛṣṭi āpaṇa | bahiraṭa hovoni upaje ||47||

One who will not listen when the scriptures and sacred histories are recited to him, and who lets his eyes wander greedily while eating, is born deaf.

A closed ear to wisdom, in the text's logic, forfeits the very faculty of hearing in a future life — the punishment mirrors the fault.

When someone offers you good counsel, actually listen, rather than letting your attention drift elsewhere.

पतितासवे करी इष्टती । गर्दभजन्म पावती । त्यासी रस औषध घेती । मृगयोनी जन्मे तो ॥४८॥

patitāsave karī iṣṭatī | gardabhajanma pāvatī | tyāsī rasa auṣadha ghetī | mṛgayonī janme to ||48||

One who keeps close company with a fallen person attains birth as a donkey; one who wrongfully takes medicinal extracts is born in a deer's womb.

The company one keeps and the resources one misuses both leave their mark — even a seemingly minor theft of medicine carries its own consequence.

Choose your close companions and your use of others' resources thoughtfully; both shape who you become.

ब्रह्महत्या केली जरी । क्षयरोगी होय निर्धारी । सुरापानी ओळखा परी । श्यामदंत उपजेल ॥४९॥

brahmahatyā kelī jarī | kṣayarogī hoya nirdhārī | surāpānī oḷakhā parī | śyāmadamta upajela ||49||

If one commits the killing of a Brāhmaṇa, he is certain to become afflicted with consumption; and know the habitual drinker by this sign — he will be born with dark teeth.

The gravest violence and habitual intoxication both leave a lasting, visible mark on the body across lifetimes, in this teaching's imagery.

Take seriously how violence and addiction mark a life, even when the harm is not immediately visible.

अश्ववध गोवध करिता । वांझ ज्वरी होय निश्चिता । सवेचि होय अनुतप्तता । दोष काही नाही त्यासी ॥५०॥

aśvavadha govadha karitā | vāmjha jvarī hoya niścitā | saveci hoya anutaptatā | doṣa kāhī nāhī tyāsī ||50||

One who kills a horse or a cow is certain to become feverish and barren — but if immediate remorse arises in him, then there is no fault upon him at all.

Even here, amid the harshest consequences, the door of genuine remorse is shown open — true repentance can dissolve even a heavy wrong.

When you have truly wronged someone, let genuine remorse move you at once, not delayed excuse-making.

विश्वासघातकी नरासी । जन्म होय ऐसा त्यासी । अन्न जेविता वांति उर्वशी । अन्नवैरी तो होय ॥५१॥

viśvāsaghātakī narāsī | janma hoya aisā tyāsī | anna jevitā vāmti urvaśī | annavairī to hoya ||51||

Such is the birth that comes to a treacherous man: while eating he vomits again and again — he becomes, as it were, an enemy of food itself.

Betraying another's trust is imagined as turning even the basic sustenance of life against oneself — treachery poisons one's own nourishment.

Guard the trust others place in you; betrayal corrodes even the good things meant to sustain you.

सेवक एकाचा चाळवोन । घेवोनि जाती जे जन । त्यासी होय जाण बंधन । कारागृह भोगीतसे ॥५२॥

sevaka ekācā cāḷavona | ghevoni jātī je jana | tyāsī hoya jāṇa bamdhana | kārāgṛha bhogītase ||52||

Those who entice away another's servant and take him for themselves incur bondage, know this — they suffer imprisonment.

Poaching what rightfully belongs to another's household or livelihood is treated as theft with its own binding consequence.

Do not lure away what rightfully supports someone else's household or work for your own convenience.

सर्पजाती मारी नर । सर्पयोनी पुढे निर्धार । ऐसे दोष अपार । आता तस्कर प्रकरण सांगेन ॥५३॥

sarpajātī mārī nara | sarpayonī puḍhe nirdhāra | aise doṣa apāra | ātā taskara prakaraṇa sāmgena ||53||

A man who kills snakes is certain, in future, to take birth as a snake; such faults are countless — now I shall tell the chapter concerning thieves.

The principle recurs: harm done to a kind of creature is answered by birth into that same kind — the text's way of teaching that cruelty returns in the coin it was paid.

Treat every creature as you would wish to be treated, since cruelty has a way of returning to its source.

स्त्रियांते चोरूनि घेऊनि जाय । मतिहीन जन्म होय । सदा क्लेशी आपण होय । अंती जाय नरकासी ॥५४॥

striyāmte corūni gheūni jāya | matihīna janma hoya | sadā kleśī āpaṇa hoya | amtī jāya narakāsī ||54||

One who abducts women and carries them away is born feeble-minded, remains ever afflicted, and finally goes to hell.

The theft of a woman's freedom by force is placed among the gravest sins in this chapter on thieves, warranting loss of one's own faculties and lasting torment.

Never take away another person's freedom or agency for your own ends.

सुवर्णचोरी करी नर । प्रमेहव्याधि होय निर्धार । पुस्तक चोरिता नर । अंध होउनि उपजे देखा ॥५५॥

suvarṇacorī karī nara | pramehavyādhi hoya nirdhāra | pustaka coritā nara | amdha houni upaje dekhā ||55||

A man who steals gold becomes afflicted with a urinary disease; a man who steals books is born blind.

The consequence often mirrors the theft — stealing the means of sight into knowledge, books, costs the thief his own literal sight.

Respect others' possessions and their hard-won knowledge; do not take by theft what should be earned or asked for.

वेस्त्रचोरी करी जरी । श्वित्री रोगी होय निर्धारी । गणद्रव्यचोरी घरी । ब्रह्मांडपुराणी बोलिले असे ॥५७॥

vestracorī karī jarī | śvitrī rogī hoya nirdhārī | gaṇadravyacorī gharī | brahmāmḍapurāṇī bolile ase ||57||

One who steals cloth is certain to become afflicted with a white-skin disease; theft of communal wealth from a house is likewise spoken of in the Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa.

Even mundane theft — of cloth, of shared property — is drawn from established scripture as carrying a bodily consequence, underlining that no theft is truly small.

Treat even small acts of dishonesty as significant; nothing taken wrongfully is truly minor.

परद्रव्य-अपहार देखा । परदत्तापहार विशेषा । परद्वेषी नर ऐका । धान्य अपुत्री होउनि उपजे ॥५८॥

paradravya-apahāra dekhā | paradattāpahāra viśeṣā | paradveṣī nara aikā | dhānya aputrī houni upaje ||58||

The theft of another's wealth, especially what was given in trust, and a man who is hostile and envious of others, is born without grain and without a son.

Betraying a trust and harboring envy both cost a person the two things that sustain a household — food and lineage — in this teaching's symbolic accounting.

Guard what is entrusted to you as carefully as your own, and root out envy before it hollows out your own good fortune.

अन्नचोरी केलिया देखा । गुल्मव्याधि होय ऐका । धान्य करील तस्करिका । रक्तांग होय दुर्गंध शरीर ॥५९॥

annacorī keliyā dekhā | gulmavyādhi hoya aikā | dhānya karīla taskarikā | raktāmga hoya durgamdha śarīra ||59||

Having stolen grain, one becomes afflicted with an abdominal tumor; a habitual grain-thief becomes bloody-limbed with a foul-smelling body.

Stealing the basic food that sustains a community is answered, in this imagery, by the thief's own body becoming diseased and repellent.

Never take food or basic sustenance meant for others, even in small amounts.

का एखादा तैल चोरी । तोही दुर्गंधी पावे शरीरी । परस्त्रीब्रह्मस्व अपहारी । ब्रह्मराक्षसजन्म पावे ॥६०॥

kā ekhādā taila corī | tohī durgamdhī pāve śarīrī | parastrībrahmasva apahārī | brahmarākṣasajanma pāve ||60||

If someone steals oil, he too obtains a foul-smelling body; one who seizes another's wife, or a Brāhmaṇa's rightful wealth, attains birth as a brahma-rākṣasa.

Seizing what belongs to another's household or livelihood — down to oil — accumulates toward the same haunted, tormented consequence as graver crimes.

Do not rationalize small takings as harmless; they belong to the same family of wrong as larger theft.

मोती माणिक रत्‍ने देखा । चोरी करी नर ऐका । हीनजातीसी जन्म निका । पावे नर अवधारा ॥६१॥

motī māṇika rat‍ne dekhā | corī karī nara aikā | hīnajātīsī janma nikā | pāve nara avadhārā ||61||

A man who steals pearls, rubies, or gems attains, listen well, a certain lowly birth.

Theft of luxury and beauty for oneself is placed within this catalog alongside theft of necessity — greed for what glitters carries the same weight.

Do not let desire for beautiful or valuable things tempt you into taking what is not yours.

पत्रशाखादि फळे चोरी । खरूजी होय अपरंपारी । रक्तांगी होय निर्धारी । गोचिड होय तो नर ॥६२॥

patraśākhādi phaḷe corī | kharūjī hoya aparampārī | raktāmgī hoya nirdhārī | gociḍa hoya to nara ||62||

One who steals leaves, branches, or fruit becomes afflicted with severe itching and bloody limbs; such a man is born a tick, feeding parasitically off another's body.

Even petty theft from nature's bounty is answered by becoming, in a future life, the very image of a parasite feeding off another's body.

Do not take even small, seemingly ownerless things — like fruit or wood — without regard for whose it truly is.

कांस्य लोह कर्पास लवण । तस्करिता नरा जाण । श्वेतकुष्ठ होय निर्गुण । विचारोनि रहाटावे ॥६३॥

kāmsya loha karpāsa lavaṇa | taskaritā narā jāṇa | śvetakuṣṭha hoya nirguṇa | vicāroni rahāṭāve ||63||

A man who steals bronze, iron, cotton, or salt, know this, becomes afflicted with white leprosy and loses his good qualities; reflect on this and govern your conduct accordingly.

The catalog closes its list of material thefts with an explicit instruction: this is not mere lore but a guide meant to shape how one actually lives.

Let awareness of consequences actually change your everyday conduct, not remain abstract knowledge.

देवद्रव्यापहारी देखा । देवकार्यनाश अपहार देखा । पंडुरोगी तो निका । फळचोरी विद्रूपी ॥६४॥

devadravyāpahārī dekhā | devakāryanāśa apahāra dekhā | pamḍurogī to nikā | phaḷacorī vidrūpī ||64||

One who steals what belongs to a deity, thereby ruining the deity's work, becomes afflicted with anemia; theft of fruit results in deformity.

Theft that disrupts communal worship — temple property, offerings — is treated with special gravity, since it damages not one person but the shared sacred life of many.

Be especially careful never to misuse or take from resources meant for shared worship or community good.

परनिक्षेपचोरी करी देखा । करिता होय सदा शोका । धनतस्कर उंष्ट्र ऐका । जन्म पावे अवधारा ॥६५॥

paranikṣepacorī karī dekhā | karitā hoya sadā śokā | dhanataskara umṣṭra aikā | janma pāve avadhārā ||65||

One who steals what another has deposited in trust becomes forever sorrowful; a thief of wealth becomes a camel — listen, such is the birth he attains.

Violating a specific deposit of trust is set apart from ordinary theft, carrying its own lasting sorrow as consequence.

When someone entrusts something to your safekeeping, guard it as sacred, not as an opportunity.

फलचोरी होय वनचर । जलचोरही होय कावळा थोर । गृहोपकरणे तस्कर । काकजन्म तो पावे ॥६६॥

phalacorī hoya vanacara | jalacorahī hoya kāvaḷā thora | gṛhopakaraṇe taskara | kākajanma to pāve ||66||

Theft of fruit makes one a forest-dwelling creature; theft of water likewise makes one a large crow; theft of household implements results in birth as a crow.

Petty domestic theft, in the text's symbolic scheme, produces the scavenging, opportunistic nature of a crow — form mirroring the habit.

Do not let small habitual takings from shared household resources go unexamined; character forms from exactly such repeated small choices.

मधुतस्कर अवधारी । जन्म पावे होय घारी । गोरस करी चोरी । कुष्ठी होय परियेसा ॥६७॥

madhutaskara avadhārī | janma pāve hoya ghārī | gorasa karī corī | kuṣṭhī hoya pariyesā ||67||

A thief of honey attains birth as a kite; one who steals dairy products becomes leprous, listen.

The specific form of what is stolen — sweetness, nourishment — shapes the specific form of the future consequence, in this teaching's symbolic logic.

Notice the particular things you are tempted to take without asking, and address that specific weakness directly.

श्रीगुरु म्हणती पतितासी । जन्म पावे ऐसिया दोषी । आता सांगेन व्यभिचारप्रकरणेसी । शांतिपर्वी बोलिले असे ॥६८॥

śrīguru mhaṇatī patitāsī | janma pāve aisiyā doṣī | ātā sāmgena vyabhicāraprakaraṇesī | śāmtiparvī bolile ase ||68||

Śrī Guru says to the fallen one: such faults bring such births. Now I shall tell the chapter on adultery, as it is spoken in the Śānti Parva.

The guru signals a transition within his teaching, grounding what follows in established scripture rather than his own invention.

Ground serious moral counsel in trusted tradition, not merely personal opinion.

परस्त्री आलिंगिया देखा । शतजन्म श्वान निका । पुढे मागुती सप्तजन्मिका । भोगी दुःखा अवधारा ॥६९॥

parastrī ālimgiyā dekhā | śatajanma śvāna nikā | puḍhe māgutī saptajanmikā | bhogī duḥkhā avadhārā ||69||

One who embraces another's wife takes a hundred births as a dog, and afterward suffers sorrow for seven more births, listen.

Adultery is given the most extended and severe consequence in this catalog, underscoring how gravely marital trust is regarded.

Guard fidelity in your closest relationships as one of the most consequential commitments you keep.

परस्त्रीयोनी पाहे दृष्टीने । जन्मे तो अंधत्वपणे । बंधुभार्यासंपर्क करणे । गर्दभजन्म तो पावे ॥७०॥

parastrīyonī pāhe dṛṣṭīne | janme to amdhatvapaṇe | bamdhubhāryāsamparka karaṇe | gardabhajanma to pāve ||70||

One who looks at another's wife with desire is born blind; one who unites with his brother's wife attains birth as a donkey.

The eyes that looked wrongly, and the trust of a brother that was betrayed, are each answered in kind — sight lost, and dignity diminished.

Discipline your gaze and your loyalty toward family especially, where trust runs deepest.

तोही जन्म सोडोनि । निघोनि जाय सर्पयोनी । पुन्हा नरकी जावोनि । नाना कष्ट भोगीतसे ॥७१॥

tohī janma soḍoni | nighoni jāya sarpayonī | punhā narakī jāvoni | nānā kaṣṭa bhogītase ||71||

Even after that birth, he passes on to a serpent's womb, and going again to hell, suffers manifold hardships.

The consequence for betraying a brother's trust is shown compounding across several lives, rather than resolving quickly.

Understand that some betrayals of trust take a long time to truly heal or make right; do not expect a quick fix.

सखीभार्यासवे ऐका । मातुलस्त्री असे विशेखा । येखादा करी संपर्का । श्वानयोनी जन्म पावे ॥७२॥

sakhībhāryāsave aikā | mātulastrī ase viśekhā | yekhādā karī samparkā | śvānayonī janma pāve ||72||

Whoever has union with a close friend's wife, or especially with a maternal uncle's wife, attains birth as a dog.

Betraying the trust of a friend or an elder relative through adultery is again singled out for the same severe consequence.

Recognize that the closer the bond of trust you would violate, the greater the harm — weigh this before you act.

परस्त्रियांचे वदन । न करावे कदा अवलोकन । कुबुद्धी करिता निरीक्षण । चक्षुरोगी होऊनि उपजे ॥७३॥

parastriyāmce vadana | na karāve kadā avalokana | kubuddhī karitā nirīkṣaṇa | cakṣurogī hoūni upaje ||73||

The faces of other men's wives should never be gazed upon with ill intent; observing them with such intent, one becomes afflicted with eye disease.

The instruction turns explicitly prescriptive here — a direct warning rather than only a description of consequence.

Discipline where your attention lingers; a wandering, covetous gaze is itself already a small transgression.

आपण असे शूद्रजाति । विप्रस्त्रीशी करी रति । ती दोघेही कृमि होती । हे निश्चित अवधारा ॥७४॥

āpaṇa ase śūdrajāti | viprastrīśī karī rati | tī doghehī kṛmi hotī | he niścita avadhārā ||74||

If a man of Śūdra caste unites with a Brāhmaṇa woman, both of them become worms — this is certain, understand.

The text holds both parties equally accountable for a shared transgression — consequence falls on both, not only one.

Recognize that in any shared wrongdoing, responsibility is shared too, not something you can offload onto the other person.

सदा शूद्रसंपर्क करी । याची स्त्री व्यभिचारी । जन्म पावे हो कुतरी । महादोष बोलिलासे ॥७५॥

sadā śūdrasamparka karī | yācī strī vyabhicārī | janma pāve ho kutarī | mahādoṣa bolilāse ||75||

One who constantly keeps company outside his station, whose wife then becomes unfaithful, is himself born as a female dog — this is spoken of as a great fault.

Neglecting one's household through misplaced company is shown rebounding upon the household itself, as consequence touches the whole family's fortune.

Attend to your household relationships; neglecting them for outside company invites harm to come back around.

ऐसे तया पतिताप्रती । श्रीगुरु आपण निरोपिती । ऐकत होता त्रिविक्रमभारती । प्रश्न केला श्रीगुरूसी ॥७६॥

aise tayā patitāpratī | śrīguru āpaṇa niropitī | aikata hotā trivikramabhāratī | praśna kelā śrīgurūsī ||76||

Thus Śrī Guru himself explained all this to the fallen one. Trivikrama Bhāratī, who had been listening, then posed a question to Śrī Guru.

A new questioner enters the scene — the narrative shifts from description of faults to the more hopeful question of remedy.

After hearing hard truths about consequence, ask next what can be done to make amends — do not stop at despair.

स्वामी निरोपिले धर्म सकळ । ऐकता होय मन निर्मळ । जरी घडले एक वेळ । पाप जाय कवणेपरी ॥७७॥

svāmī niropile dharma sakaḷa | aikatā hoya mana nirmaḷa | jarī ghaḍale eka veḷa | pāpa jāya kavaṇeparī ||77||

'Master, you have explained the whole dharma; hearing it, the mind becomes pure. But if such a fault occurred even once, by what means does the sin depart?'

Trivikrama's question turns the teaching toward hope — having heard how sin arises, he now asks how it can be undone, the very shape a sincere seeker's question should take.

When you learn of a wrong you have done, ask directly and without delay how to make it right.

श्रीगुरु म्हणती त्रिविक्रमासी । प्रायश्चित्त असे पापासी । पश्चात्ताप होय ज्यासी । पाप नाही सर्वथा ॥७८॥

śrīguru mhaṇatī trivikramāsī | prāyaścitta ase pāpāsī | paścāttāpa hoya jyāsī | pāpa nāhī sarvathā ||78||

Śrī Guru says to Trivikrama: 'There is atonement for sin; to whoever true remorse arises, that sin is no more at all.'

The chapter's turning point: no fault described earlier is beyond remedy — genuine remorse itself dissolves what was done.

Trust that sincere remorse for a real wrong genuinely begins to undo its hold on you.

पाप असे थोर केले । अंतःकरणी असे खोचले । त्यासी प्रायश्चित्त भले । कर्मविपाकी बोलिले ॥७९॥

pāpa ase thora kele | amtaḥkaraṇī ase khocale | tyāsī prāyaścitta bhale | karmavipākī bolile ||79||

If the sin committed was great, and lies lodged deep within the heart, for that a proper atonement is what is spoken of in the Karma-vipāka teaching.

Even the gravest, most deeply-felt guilt is not left without a prescribed path forward — remedy scales to match the weight of the wrong.

Do not let the weight of a serious past wrong convince you there is no way forward; seek out the concrete steps of repair.

प्रायश्चित्तांची विधाने । सांगेन ऐका स्थिर मने । अनेक ऋषींची वचने । ती सांगेन ऐका तुम्ही ॥८०॥

prāyaścittāmcī vidhāne | sāmgena aikā sthira mane | aneka ṛṣīmcī vacane | tī sāmgena aikā tumhī ||80||

I shall now tell the ordinances of atonement; listen with a steady mind. I will relate the words of many sages — listen, all of you.

The guru signals he is about to give practical instruction, asking first for the steadiness of attention that serious guidance deserves.

Give your full, calm attention when receiving practical guidance meant to change your life.

प्रथम व्हावा ब्रह्मदंड । तेणे होय पापखंड । गोदाने सालंकृत अखंड । अशक्त तरी द्रव्य द्यावे ॥८१॥

prathama vhāvā brahmadamḍa | teṇe hoya pāpakhamḍa | godāne sālamkṛta akhamḍa | aśakta tarī dravya dyāve ||81||

First there should be the imposition of penance by a Brāhmaṇa authority, by which the sin is diminished; the gift of a fully adorned cow is complete atonement — if unable, then wealth should be given instead.

Atonement is shown as flexible to one's means — a costly gift for those who can afford it, a lesser one for those who cannot — mercy adjusts to capacity.

Make amends within your actual means; do what you truly can rather than nothing because you cannot do everything.

निष्क अथवा अर्धनिष्क । सूक्ष्म पाप पाव निष्क । स्थूलसूक्ष्म असेल पातक । तेणे विधीं द्रव्य द्यावे ॥८२॥

niṣka athavā ardhaniṣka | sūkṣma pāpa pāva niṣka | sthūlasūkṣma asela pātaka | teṇe vidhīm dravya dyāve ||82||

A gold coin or half a gold coin — for a minor sin, a full coin is given; whether the sin is gross or subtle, wealth should be given according to that measure.

The prescribed penance scales precisely with the gravity of the fault, teaching proportionality rather than either excess or excuse.

Let your effort at making amends be proportionate to the actual harm caused, neither more nor less.

अज्ञानकृत पापासी । पश्चात्तापे शुद्धि परियेसी । गुरुसेवा तत्परेसी । केलिया गुरु निवारी ॥८३॥

ajñānakṛta pāpāsī | paścāttāpe śuddhi pariyesī | gurusevā tatparesī | keliyā guru nivārī ||83||

For sin committed in ignorance, purification comes through remorse, listen; through devoted service to the guru, done well, the guru removes it.

Unwitting faults are treated more gently — sincere remorse and renewed devotion to one's teacher are enough, without harsher penance.

If you erred without knowing better, let honest remorse and recommitment to good guidance be your correction, without excessive self-punishment.

नेणता पाप केलियासी । प्रायश्चित्त असे परियेसी । प्राणायाम द्विशतेसी । पुण्यतीर्थी दहा स्नाने ॥८४॥

neṇatā pāpa keliyāsī | prāyaścitta ase pariyesī | prāṇāyāma dviśatesī | puṇyatīrthī dahā snāne ||84||

For sin done unknowingly there is this atonement, listen: two hundred repetitions of breath-control practice, and ten baths at sacred fords.

Practical, embodied disciplines — breath and ritual bathing — are prescribed as the concrete means of purification for unintentional faults.

Use disciplined, repeated practice — a steady routine, not a single grand gesture — to work through a lapse.

तीन गुंजा सुवर्ण द्यावे । नदी आचरावे दोन गावे । सौम्य पातक याचि भावे । जाती पापे परियेसी ॥८५॥

tīna gumjā suvarṇa dyāve | nadī ācarāve dona gāve | saumya pātaka yāci bhāve | jātī pāpe pariyesī ||85||

Three gunja-weights of gold should be given; one should walk along a river for the distance of two villages; by this act, mild sin departs, listen.

Small, mild faults receive correspondingly light and manageable remedies — a modest gift, a modest journey.

Do not over-punish yourself for a small lapse; a proportionate, simple act of correction is enough.

स्त्रीपुरुष दोघांत एक । करिती पुण्यपाप दोष । दोघेही पडती दोषात । दोघे आचरावे प्रायश्चित्त ॥८६॥

strīpuruṣa doghāmta eka | karitī puṇyapāpa doṣa | doghehī paḍatī doṣāta | doghe ācarāve prāyaścitta ||86||

When husband and wife together commit merit or sin as one, both fall into the fault, and both must perform atonement.

Shared wrongdoing calls for shared accountability — neither partner is exempted by pointing to the other.

If you and a partner err together, both of you should take responsibility for making it right, not just one.

आणिक एक असे प्रकार । जेणे पाप होय दूर । गायत्रीजप दहा सहस्त्र । करावा तेणे वेदमंत्र ॥८७॥

āṇika eka ase prakāra | jeṇe pāpa hoya dūra | gāyatrījapa dahā sahastra | karāvā teṇe vedamamtra ||87||

There is yet another method by which sin is removed: one should perform ten thousand repetitions of the Gāyatrī mantra, that Vedic prayer.

Repeated sacred recitation is offered as an alternative path to purification, for those whose fault or means call for it.

Adopt a repeated daily practice — prayer, reflection, or discipline — as a steady way to work through guilt.

याचे नाव गायत्रीकृच्छ । महादोषी करी पवित्र । ऐसे करावे विचित्र । श्रीगुरु सांगती त्रिविक्रमासी ॥८८॥

yāce nāva gāyatrīkṛccha | mahādoṣī karī pavitra | aise karāve vicitra | śrīguru sāmgatī trivikramāsī ||88||

This is called Gāyatrī-kṛcchra; it purifies even a great sinner; thus it should be done, in various ways — so Śrī Guru tells Trivikrama.

No sin, however great, is placed beyond the reach of this practice — its power is stated as unconditional.

Do not assume any past wrong is too great to work through with sustained, sincere practice.

प्राजापत्यकृच्छ्र देखा । असे विधि अतिविशेषा । भोजन करावे मुक्त एका । अथवा अयाचित भिक्षा ॥८९॥

prājāpatyakṛcchra dekhā | ase vidhi ativiśeṣā | bhojana karāve mukta ekā | athavā ayācita bhikṣā ||89||

Listen to the Prājāpatya-kṛcchra penance — its procedure is especially detailed: one should eat one unrestricted meal, or subsist on unsolicited alms.

A more rigorous penance is introduced, involving deliberate restraint of food and reliance on what comes unasked — teaching detachment from craving.

Practice occasional deliberate restraint — simplifying what you eat or accept — to loosen the grip of craving.

उपवास करावे तीन दिवस । स्मरावे गुरुचरणास । येणे जाती सौम्य दोष । जे आपणासी सामान्य ॥९०॥

upavāsa karāve tīna divasa | smarāve gurucaraṇāsa | yeṇe jātī saumya doṣa | je āpaṇāsī sāmānya ||90||

One should fast for three days, remembering the guru's feet; by this, mild faults — those ordinary to oneself — depart.

Fasting is paired explicitly with remembrance of the guru, showing that the outer discipline is meant to be inseparable from an inner devotion.

When you undertake self-discipline, hold it together with sincere remembrance of what or whom guides you, not as an empty exercise.

’अतिकच्छ्र’ असे एक । एकचित्ते मुनि ऐक । दोष असतील सामान्यक । अज्ञानेचि केलिया ॥९१॥

’atikacchra’ ase eka | ekacitte muni aika | doṣa asatīla sāmānyaka | ajñāneci keliyā ||91||

'Atikṛcchra' is another such penance; listen, sages, with one-pointed mind — it is for ordinary faults committed out of ignorance.

The list of graded penances continues, each calibrated to a specific degree and cause of fault.

Match your response to a mistake to its actual cause — an honest error deserves a different response than deliberate wrongdoing.

अन्न घ्यावे सप्तविंशति ग्रास । सकाळी बारा रात्री पंचदश । अथवा दोनी अष्ट ग्रास । अयाचित अन्न द्यावे ॥९२॥

anna ghyāve saptavimśati grāsa | sakāḷī bārā rātrī pamcadaśa | athavā donī aṣṭa grāsa | ayācita anna dyāve ||92||

One should take twenty-seven morsels of food — twelve in the morning, fifteen at night — or alternatively two times eight morsels; only unsolicited food should be taken.

Precise, measured restraint in eating is prescribed as a disciplined middle path — neither total deprivation nor unrestrained indulgence.

Practice measured, deliberate restraint rather than either total denial or unchecked indulgence.

ऐसे सौम्य पातकासी । विधि असती परियेसी । मास एक नेमेसी । अंजुली एक जेवावे ॥९३॥

aise saumya pātakāsī | vidhi asatī pariyesī | māsa eka nemesī | amjulī eka jevāve ||93||

Thus for a mild sin, such are the procedures, listen: for one month, by rule, one handful of food should be eaten each day.

A sustained month-long discipline of minimal eating is prescribed for faults that, while mild, still call for real and lasting effort to correct.

Some corrections require sustained effort over time, not a single act — commit to the whole duration, not just the start.

उपवास तीन करावे देखा । प्रकार सांगेन आणिका । तीन दिन उपोषका । घृतपारणे करावे ॥९४॥

upavāsa tīna karāve dekhā | prakāra sāmgena āṇikā | tīna dina upoṣakā | ghṛtapāraṇe karāve ||94||

Three fasts should be observed, listen; I shall tell another method: after fasting three days, one should break the fast with ghee.

Even the manner of ending a discipline is specified — how one returns to ordinary life after austerity matters as much as the austerity itself.

Pay attention not just to how you begin a period of discipline, but to how gently and deliberately you return from it.

तीन दिवस घृत घेवोनि । क्षीर घ्यावे दिवस तीनी । तीन दिवस वायु भक्षोनि । पुनः क्षीर एक दिवस ॥९५॥

tīna divasa ghṛta ghevoni | kṣīra ghyāve divasa tīnī | tīna divasa vāyu bhakṣoni | punaḥ kṣīra eka divasa ||95||

For three days taking ghee, one should take milk for three days; for three days subsisting on air alone, then again milk for one day.

The most rigorous penance escalates through carefully staged levels of restraint, moving toward near-total fasting before easing back.

If real change requires intense effort, approach it in careful stages rather than an abrupt, unsustainable leap.

एखादा असेल अशक्त । तयासी असे एक व्रत । तीळ गुळ लाह्या पीठ । उपवास एक करावा ॥९६॥

ekhādā asela aśakta | tayāsī ase eka vrata | tīḷa guḷa lāhyā pīṭha | upavāsa eka karāvā ||96||

If someone is weak or unable, for him there is one alternative vow: sesame, jaggery, puffed grain, and flour — with these, one fast should be observed.

The teaching builds in mercy for the physically weak, offering a gentler alternative rather than demanding the same austerity from everyone.

Adapt any discipline to your genuine capacity; a gentler but honest effort is better than an impossible standard you abandon.

पूर्णकृच्छ्र करा ऐसी । पर्णोदक घ्यावे प्रतिदिवशी । करावे तितके उपवासी । पश्चात्तापे प्राशन कीजे ॥९७॥

pūrṇakṛcchra karā aisī | parṇodaka ghyāve pratidivaśī | karāve titake upavāsī | paścāttāpe prāśana kīje ||97||

'Pūrṇa-kṛcchra' is performed thus: leaf-water should be taken each day; as many fasts as one can manage should be undertaken, and it should be consumed with genuine remorse.

Once more, the outward act — drinking only leaf-water — is bound explicitly to the inward state of remorse — form without feeling would not suffice.

Let any act of penance or self-correction be carried out with real inward sincerity, not mere outward compliance.

कमल बिल्व अश्वत्थ । कुशोदक बिंदु नित्य । पान करावे सत्य । पर्णकृच्छ्र परियेसा ॥९८॥

kamala bilva aśvattha | kuśodaka bimdu nitya | pāna karāve satya | parṇakṛcchra pariyesā ||98||

Lotus, bilva, and aśvattha leaves — a drop of water infused with sacred kuśa grass, taken daily — such drinking should truly be practiced; this is the Parṇa-kṛcchra, listen.

Even the sparest possible sustenance, from sacred plants, is offered as a path of purification for those called to the most austere penance.

Recognize that the smallest, humblest daily practice, sustained faithfully, can still be a genuine path of change.

आणिक एक प्रकार । करी चांद्रायण-आचार । कुक्कुटांडप्रमाण आहार । ग्रास घ्यावे वर्धमानी ॥९९॥

āṇika eka prakāra | karī cāmdrāyaṇa-ācāra | kukkuṭāmḍapramāṇa āhāra | grāsa ghyāve vardhamānī ||99||

There is yet another method: observing the Chāndrāyaṇa vow, taking food measured to the size of a hen's egg, with morsels increased gradually as the moon waxes.

This final penance ties bodily discipline to the rhythm of the moon itself — restraint and increase in step with a larger natural cycle, teaching patience over the long arc of a month.

Let your discipline follow a steady, gradual rhythm rather than demanding instant results all at once.

अमावास्येसी एक ग्रास । पौर्णिमेसी पंचदश । कृष्णपक्षी उतरत । दुसरे मासी हविष्यान्न ॥१००॥

amāvāsyesī eka grāsa | paurṇimesī pamcadaśa | kṛṣṇapakṣī utarata | dusare māsī haviṣyānna ||100||

On the new-moon day take one morsel, on the full-moon day fifteen morsels, decreasing through the dark fortnight; in the second month eat only oblational (havishya) food.

This completes the cāndrāyaṇa (moon-cycle fast) atonement begun in the previous verse, where the amount eaten rises and falls with the moon's phases as a discipline of self-control.

Practice restraint gradually and rhythmically rather than all at once, easing in and out of any discipline.

आपले पाप प्रगटूनि । उच्चारावे सभास्थानी । पश्चात्तापे जळूनि । पाप जाय अवधारा ॥१॥

āpale pāpa pragaṭūni | uccārāve sabhāsthānī | paścāttāpe jaḷūni | pāpa jāya avadhārā ||1||

One should openly declare one's own sin in a public assembly; through remorse it is burned away, and the sin departs, understand this.

Public confession paired with genuine paścāttāpa (remorse) is itself a purifying act; hiding wrongdoing lets it fester, while naming it honestly begins its undoing.

When you have done wrong, admit it openly to those affected instead of concealing it.

आता सांगेन तीर्थकृच्छ्र । यात्रा करावी पवित्र । वाराणसी श्वेतपर्वत । स्नानमात्रे पापे जाती ॥२॥

ātā sāmgena tīrthakṛcchra | yātrā karāvī pavitra | vārāṇasī śvetaparvata | snānamātre pāpe jātī ||2||

Now I shall tell of tīrthakṛcchra (pilgrimage penance): one should undertake a sacred pilgrimage, to Vārāṇasī, to Śvetaparvata, for by the mere act of bathing there, sins depart.

Sacred tīrtha (pilgrimage site) bathing is presented as a concentrated form of penance; the outer journey mirrors an inner one of purification.

Set aside a deliberate journey or ritual of renewal when you need to reset after a wrongdoing.

वरकड तीर्थी गेलियासी । गायत्रीजप सहस्त्रेसी । पाप जाय त्वरेसी । अगस्तीवचन बोलिले असे ॥३॥

varakaḍa tīrthī geliyāsī | gāyatrījapa sahastresī | pāpa jāya tvaresī | agastīvacana bolile ase ||3||

Going to other sacred places, and reciting the gāyatrī mantra a thousand times, sin departs quickly; this is Agastya's teaching.

The text cites the sage Agastya as authority, showing these penances rest on a received tradition, not private invention.

Root your self-correcting practices in trusted wisdom rather than improvising alone.

समुद्रसेतुबंधेसी । स्नान केलिया परियेसी । भ्रूणहत्यापाप नाशी । कृतघ्नादि पातके ॥४॥

samudrasetubamdhesī | snāna keliyā pariyesī | bhrūṇahatyāpāpa nāśī | kṛtaghnādi pātake ||4||

By bathing at Samudra-Setubandha (Rāmeśvaram), the sin of destroying an unborn child is destroyed, along with sins of ingratitude and the like.

Even grave sins, those against life itself or against those who helped you, are said to be answerable through sincere purification, not left permanently unhealed.

Do not consider any past wrong beyond repair; take the hardest steps toward making amends.

विधिपूर्वक शुचीसी । जप कोटी गायत्रीसी । ब्रह्महत्यापाप नाशी । ऐके त्रिविक्रम एकचित्ते ॥५॥

vidhipūrvaka śucīsī | japa koṭī gāyatrīsī | brahmahatyāpāpa nāśī | aike trivikrama ekacitte ||5||

By reciting the gāyatrī mantra one crore times with proper ritual and purity, the sin of killing a brahmin is destroyed; listen, Trivikrama, with a single mind.

The scale of the penance, a crore repetitions, matches the gravity of the sin, teaching that the weight of amends should be proportionate to the weight of the harm done.

Match the effort of your amends to the seriousness of the harm you caused.

लक्ष गायत्री जप केलिया । सुरापानपाप जाय लया । सुवर्णचोरी केलिया । सात लक्ष जपावे ॥६॥

lakṣa gāyatrī japa keliyā | surāpānapāpa jāya layā | suvarṇacorī keliyā | sāta lakṣa japāve ||6||

By reciting the gāyatrī mantra one lakh times, the sin of drinking liquor is dissolved; for the theft of gold, seven lakh repetitions should be recited.

Different transgressions carry different weights of atonement, underscoring that not all wrongs are equal and each calls for its own honest reckoning.

Assess honestly how serious a mistake is before deciding how much effort your repair requires.

अष्ट लक्ष गुरुतल्पगासी । गायत्री जपता पाप नाशी । आता सांगेन परियेसी । वेदाक्षरे पाप दूर ॥७॥

aṣṭa lakṣa gurutalpagāsī | gāyatrī japatā pāpa nāśī | ātā sāmgena pariyesī | vedākṣare pāpa dūra ||7||

For violating the guru's bed, a grave betrayal of trust, reciting the gāyatrī mantra eight lakh times destroys that sin. Now listen further: sin is also removed through the syllables of the Veda.

The worst listed sin here is betraying the guru's trust, a warning that abusing a position of intimacy or dependence is treated as gravely as violence or theft.

Guard the trust placed in you by teachers, mentors, and those who depend on you as sacred.

पवमानसूक्त चत्वारी । पठण करिता ब्रह्महत्या दूरी । इंद्रमित्र अवधारी । एक मास जपावे ॥८॥

pavamānasūkta catvārī | paṭhaṇa karitā brahmahatyā dūrī | imdramitra avadhārī | eka māsa japāve ||8||

By reciting the four Pavamāna hymns, the sin of killing a brahmin is removed far away; the Indramitra hymn should be recited for one month, listen well.

Vedic hymns (sūkta) recited with discipline over time are offered as another path of atonement alongside pilgrimage and japa; many doors lead to the same purification.

When one path to making amends feels closed to you, look for another sincere practice that fits your means.

सुरापानादि पातके । जातील येणे सूक्तके । शुनःशेपा नाम सूक्ते । सुवर्णहरा पाप जाय ॥९॥

surāpānādi pātake | jātīla yeṇe sūktake | śunaḥśepā nāma sūkte | suvarṇaharā pāpa jāya ||9||

Sins such as drinking liquor are removed by this hymn; the hymn named Śunaḥśepa removes the sin of stealing gold.

Each hymn is matched to a particular fault, reinforcing that thoughtful, specific remedies work better than vague general effort.

Address a specific fault with a specific corrective action, not just a general resolution to do better.

पवमानशन्नसूक्त । पठण करिता हविष्योक्त । मास एक पठत । गुरुतल्पगादिक हरती ॥११०॥

pavamānaśannasūkta | paṭhaṇa karitā haviṣyokta | māsa eka paṭhata | gurutalpagādika haratī ||110||

Reciting the Pavamāna-Śānna hymn with the prescribed oblation-food (haviṣya) for one month removes even the sin of violating the guru's bed and similar offenses.

Sustained, disciplined practice over a full month, not a single act, is what dissolves even the gravest betrayals of trust.

Commit to a sustained period of disciplined effort when repairing a serious betrayal, not a one-time gesture.

पंच मास सहा मास । मिताहर करुनी पुरुष । पुरुषसूक्ते कर्मनाश । पंचमहापापे नासती ॥११॥

pamca māsa sahā māsa | mitāhara karunī puruṣa | puruṣasūkte karmanāśa | pamcamahāpāpe nāsatī ||11||

Eating moderately for five or six months while reciting the Puruṣa hymn destroys accumulated karma; the five great sins are destroyed by this.

Moderation in appetite (mitāhāra) paired with devotion is shown as a long, steady discipline capable of undoing even the gravest wrongs.

Pair physical self-restraint, like moderate eating, with your inner discipline when working to change.

त्रिमधु म्हणेजे मंत्रसूक्त । सुवर्णात्रीनास मंत्र । जपावे नाचिकेत । समस्त पातके प्रायश्चित्त ॥१२॥

trimadhu mhaṇeje mamtrasūkta | suvarṇātrīnāsa mamtra | japāve nāciketa | samasta pātake prāyaścitta ||12||

The Trimadhu hymn-mantra, the Suvarṇātrināśa mantra, and the Nāciketa mantra, when recited, serve as atonement for all sins.

The text piles up mantra after mantra as universal remedies, a way of saying no sin, however varied, is beyond the reach of sincere practice.

Do not give up seeking a way to make things right just because your first attempt does not fit the wrong.

नारायणपन्न देखा । जपावे भक्तिपूर्वका । नाशी पंच महापातका । प्रीतिपूर्वक जपावे ॥१३॥

nārāyaṇapanna dekhā | japāve bhaktipūrvakā | nāśī pamca mahāpātakā | prītipūrvaka japāve ||13||

The Nārāyaṇa oblation-recitation, chanted with devotion, destroys the five great sins; it should be recited with loving devotion.

Devotion (bhakti), not mechanical repetition, is what the text insists makes the recitation effective; the heart's sincerity is the active ingredient.

Bring genuine feeling, not just correct form, to whatever ritual or apology you offer.

त्रिपदा नाम गायत्रीसी । जपती जे भक्तीसी । अघमर्षण त्रिरावृत्तेसी । सप्त जन्म पाप जाय ॥१४॥

tripadā nāma gāyatrīsī | japatī je bhaktīsī | aghamarṣaṇa trirāvṛttesī | sapta janma pāpa jāya ||14||

Those who recite the three-line gāyatrī with devotion, and repeat the Aghamarṣaṇa hymn three times, have the sin of seven births destroyed.

The scope widens here to sins carried across many lifetimes, teaching that patterns of harm can run deeper than a single life and need equally deep remedy.

When a bad pattern in your life runs deep and old, be willing to work on it at the same depth.

अपांमध्य पन्नासी । तद्विष्णो नाम सूक्तेसी । जपती जे जन भक्तीसी । सप्त जन्म पाप जाय ॥१५॥

apāmmadhya pannāsī | tadviṣṇo nāma sūktesī | japatī je jana bhaktīsī | sapta janma pāpa jāya ||15||

Those who recite the Apāṃ-madhya hymn and the Tad-Viṣṇo hymn with devotion likewise have the sin of seven births removed.

A second path to the same deep healing is offered, reinforcing that there is more than one sincere route to freedom from an old, entrenched fault.

If one method of self-improvement isn't working for you, be willing to try another sincere approach toward the same goal.

आणिक असे विधान देखा । अज्ञानकृत दोषादिका । अनुतप्त होवोनि विशेषा । पंचगव्य प्राशन कीजे ॥१६॥

āṇika ase vidhāna dekhā | ajñānakṛta doṣādikā | anutapta hovoni viśeṣā | pamcagavya prāśana kīje ||16||

There is also another method for sins committed unknowingly: being deeply repentant, one should drink pañcagavya (the five sacred products of the cow).

Even unintentional wrongs are taken seriously here, but the remedy for them is gentler, showing that the depth of atonement should match not just the harm but also the intent behind it.

Take responsibility for the harm you cause even by accident, even though it deserves a gentler response than deliberate wrongdoing.

गोमूत्र गोमय क्षीर । दधि घृत कुशसार । विधिमंत्रे घ्यावे निर्धार । पहिले दिनी उपवास ॥१७॥

gomūtra gomaya kṣīra | dadhi ghṛta kuśasāra | vidhimamtre ghyāve nirdhāra | pahile dinī upavāsa ||17||

Cow's urine, cow-dung, milk, curd, ghee, and kuśa-grass water should be taken according to the ritual mantra, fasting on the first day.

The recipe is precise and humble, ordinary substances from the cow, prepared with care, become the vehicle of purification.

Do not despise simple, ordinary means of self-correction; sincerity can make small acts powerful.

नीलवर्ण गोमूत्र । कृष्णगोमय पवित्र । ताम्र गायत्रीचे क्षीर । श्वेतधेनूचे दधि घ्यावे ॥१८॥

nīlavarṇa gomūtra | kṛṣṇagomaya pavitra | tāmra gāyatrīce kṣīra | śvetadhenūce dadhi ghyāve ||18||

Blue-tinged cow's urine, black cow's dung, milk taken in a copper vessel from a special cow, and curd from a white cow should be used.

The careful specification of details reflects a worldview in which attentive, deliberate care itself is part of the offering's sincerity.

Put real care and attention into the details of any act meant to make amends, rather than doing it carelessly.

कपिला गाईचे तूप बरवे । ऐसे पंचगव्य बरवे घ्यावे । एकेकाचे क्लप्त भावे । सांगेन सर्व अवधारा ॥१९॥

kapilā gāīce tūpa barave | aise pamcagavya barave ghyāve | ekekāce klapta bhāve | sāmgena sarva avadhārā ||19||

Good ghee from a kapilā (tawny) cow should be taken; thus should the five products of the cow be well gathered; I shall now tell each one's proper measure in full.

The kapilā cow recurs as especially sacred in this tradition, foreshadowing the later teaching that her mere sight alone can purify.

Value the simplest, most cherished sources of goodness in your life; they matter more than elaborate ones.

गोमूत्र घ्यावे पावशेर। अंगुष्ठपर्व गोमय पवित्र । क्षीर पावणे दोन शेर । दधि तीन पाव घ्यावे ॥१२०॥

gomūtra ghyāve pāvaśera| amguṣṭhaparva gomaya pavitra | kṣīra pāvaṇe dona śera | dadhi tīna pāva ghyāve ||120||

Cow's urine should be taken as a quarter-śer; cow-dung the size of a thumb-joint, purely; milk about one and three-quarter śer; curd three-quarter pāv.

Precise measures show that even a devotional ritual has discipline and proportion; sincerity does not mean carelessness about form.

Bring careful, measured discipline to your practices, not vague good intentions alone.

घृत घ्यावे पाव शेर । तितुकेचि मिळवावे कुशनीर । घेता मंत्र उच्चार । विस्तारोनि सांगेन ॥२१॥

ghṛta ghyāve pāva śera | titukeci miḷavāve kuśanīra | ghetā mamtra uccāra | vistāroni sāmgena ||21||

Ghee should be taken as a quarter-śer; an equal amount of kuśa-grass water should be mixed in; I shall explain at length the mantra to recite while taking it.

Every substance is paired with both a measure and a mantra, showing that the outer act and the inner intention are meant to move together.

Let your words and your actions match each other when you set out to correct a wrong.

कुशांसहित सहा रसे । एकेकासी मंत्र पृथक्‍ असे । प्रथम मंत्र इरावती असे । इदं विष्णु दुजा देख ॥२२॥

kuśāmsahita sahā rase | ekekāsī mamtra pṛthak‍ ase | prathama mamtra irāvatī ase | idam viṣṇu dujā dekha ||22||

Including the kuśa-water, there are six substances, and each has its own separate mantra; the first mantra is Irāvatī, the second is 'Idaṃ Viṣṇu.'

Each element of the ritual has its own dedicated invocation, showing that even a small component deserves its own full attention and reverence.

Give each part of a difficult task your full attention rather than rushing through it as one blur.

मानस्तोक मंत्र तिसरा । प्रजापति चतुर्थ अवधारा । पंचम गायत्री उच्चारा । सहावी व्याह्रति प्रणवपूर्वका ॥२३॥

mānastoka mamtra tisarā | prajāpati caturtha avadhārā | pamcama gāyatrī uccārā | sahāvī vyāhrati praṇavapūrvakā ||23||

The third mantra is Mānastoka, the fourth is Prajāpati; the fifth is the gāyatrī recitation, and the sixth is the Vyāhṛti preceded by the sacred syllable praṇava (Om).

The sequence builds toward the gāyatrī and the primal syllable Om, the tradition's most central and universal invocations, as the culmination of the rite.

Build any disciplined practice toward its most essential, central purpose, letting lesser steps prepare the way for it.

ऐसे मंत्रोनि पंचगव्य । प्यावे अनुतप्त एकभाव । अस्थिगत चर्मगत पूर्व । पापे जाती अवधारा ॥२४॥

aise mamtroni pamcagavya | pyāve anutapta ekabhāva | asthigata carmagata pūrva | pāpe jātī avadhārā ||24||

Thus, having chanted the mantras over the pañcagavya, one should drink it while deeply repentant and single-minded; sins lodged even in one's very bones and skin are destroyed.

The image of sin reaching into bone and skin conveys how deeply wrongdoing can be internalized, and how thoroughly sincere repentance is said to reach in turn.

Address the parts of a fault that have become deeply ingrained in you, not just its surface symptoms.

गाई न मिळता इतुके जिन्नसी । कपिला गाय मुख्य परियेसी । दर्शनमात्रे दोष नाशी । कपिला गाई उत्तम ॥२५॥

gāī na miḷatā ituke jinnasī | kapilā gāya mukhya pariyesī | darśanamātre doṣa nāśī | kapilā gāī uttama ||25||

If all these items cannot be obtained, the kapilā cow is foremost, know this well: by the mere sight of her, sin is destroyed; the kapilā cow is supreme.

When the elaborate ritual is out of reach, the text offers a simpler, more accessible grace, showing mercy toward those without means, not just the wealthy or well-equipped.

When you cannot manage an elaborate remedy for a fault, trust that a simple, sincere gesture can still carry real power.

पंचमहापातक नावे । ब्रह्महत्या सुरापान जाणावे । स्वर्णस्तेय गुरुतल्पग जाणावे । पाचवा त्यासवे मिळालेला ॥२६॥

pamcamahāpātaka nāve | brahmahatyā surāpāna jāṇāve | svarṇasteya gurutalpaga jāṇāve | pācavā tyāsave miḷālelā ||26||

The five great sins are named thus: know them as killing a brahmin, drinking liquor, stealing gold, and violating the guru's bed; the fifth is one who keeps company with such a person.

Notably, mere association with grave wrongdoers is itself counted among the gravest sins; company and complicity matter as much as the act itself.

Be mindful of whom you closely associate with, since their conduct can implicate your own character.

चौघे पातकी देखा । पाचवा तया मिळता देखा । त्यासहित पंचमहापातका । आहेती पापे परियेसा ॥२७॥

caughe pātakī dekhā | pācavā tayā miḷatā dekhā | tyāsahita pamcamahāpātakā | āhetī pāpe pariyesā ||27||

These four are the great sinners; a fifth who keeps company with them is also counted; together with him, they form the five great sins, understand this well.

The teaching repeats and reinforces the point: silence, association, or tolerance toward serious wrongdoing is treated as a share in the wrongdoing itself.

Do not stay silently complicit with wrongdoing around you; distance yourself from it or speak against it.

सुरापानी ब्रह्मघातकी । सुवर्णस्तेय गुरुतल्पकी । पाचवा महाघातकी । जो सानुकूळ मिळे तो ॥२८॥

surāpānī brahmaghātakī | suvarṇasteya gurutalpakī | pācavā mahāghātakī | jo sānukūḷa miḷe to ||28||

One who drinks liquor is a virtual brahmin-killer; the thief of gold and the violator of the guru's bed are likewise grave sinners; the fifth great sinner is whoever willingly keeps company with them.

The chain of equivalence here, drinking treated as akin to killing a brahmin, teaches that habits which erode one's discipline can be as corrosive as dramatic acts of violence.

Take small corrosive habits as seriously as major ones, since they can lead to the same ruin over time.

ऐसे पातक घडे त्यासी । प्रायश्चित्त परियेसी । श्रीगुरुसंतोषी । अनुग्रहे पुनीत ॥२९॥

aise pātaka ghaḍe tyāsī | prāyaścitta pariyesī | śrīgurusamtoṣī | anugrahe punīta ||29||

Such is the sin that may occur, and such is its atonement, understand this well; through Śrī Guru's pleasure and grace, one becomes purified.

After the long catalog of remedies, the text places the true source of purification not in ritual technique alone but in the guru's grace; the outer practice and the inner blessing work together.

Seek the blessing and encouragement of someone wiser than you as you work to correct yourself, not just the correct technique.

एखादा मिळेल शास्त्रज्ञ । स्वधर्माचारे अभिज्ञ । त्याच्या अनुग्रहे पापघ्न । पुनीत होय अवधारा ॥१३०॥

ekhādā miḷela śāstrajña | svadharmācāre abhijña | tyācyā anugrahe pāpaghna | punīta hoya avadhārā ||130||

If one meets a scholar learned in the scriptures, skilled in righteous conduct, then through his grace-filled initiation, sin is destroyed and one becomes purified, understand this.

A worthy teacher's presence is treated as itself a powerful remedy, more valuable than ritual alone; wisdom transmitted person to person, not merely from texts.

Seek out a genuinely wise and upright guide when you are trying to change, and value their guidance highly.

ऐसे श्रीगुरु त्रिक्रमासी । प्रायश्चित्त सांगती परियेसी । सकल विप्र संतोषी । ज्ञानप्रकाशे होती ॥३१॥

aise śrīguru trikramāsī | prāyaścitta sāmgatī pariyesī | sakala vipra samtoṣī | jñānaprakāśe hotī ||31||

Thus Śrī Guru told Trivikrama of the various atonements, listen well; all the brahmins present were delighted, and became illumined with knowledge.

The long teaching on prāyaścitta (atonement) closes with the whole assembly's joy and understanding, showing that truthful teaching about consequences and repair brings relief, not only fear.

Do not shy away from hearing hard truths about consequences; real understanding of them can bring peace, not just dread.

श्रीगुरु म्हणती पतितासी । पूर्वी तू विप्र होतासी । माता पिता गुरु दूषी । तेणे होय चांडालजन्म ॥३२॥

śrīguru mhaṇatī patitāsī | pūrvī tū vipra hotāsī | mātā pitā guru dūṣī | teṇe hoya cāmḍālajanma ||32||

Śrī Guru says to the fallen man: 'Formerly you were a brahmin; you reviled your mother, father, and guru, and by that you were born into a chāṇḍāla birth.'

The narrative now returns to the outcast man from the chapter's opening, revealing that his degraded birth traces to disrespecting his parents and guru (teacher), a specific, personal root cause, not an abstract rule.

Examine honestly whether disrespect toward those who raised or taught you lies behind troubles in your own life.

आता सांगतो ऐक । स्नानसंगमी मास एक । केलिया दोष जाती निःशंक । पुनः विप्रजन्म होसी ॥३३॥

ātā sāmgato aika | snānasamgamī māsa eka | keliyā doṣa jātī niḥśamka | punaḥ viprajanma hosī ||33||

'Now listen further,' says Guru: 'bathe at the sacred confluence (saṅgama) for one month; your sins will surely depart, and you will become a brahmin once more.'

A specific, achievable remedy is offered directly to this man; the general teaching on atonement becomes personal, compassionate guidance for one broken life.

When someone comes to you burdened by guilt, offer them a concrete, doable path forward, not just abstract comfort.

पतित म्हणे स्वामीसी । तव दर्शन जाहले आम्हांसी । कावळा जाता मानसासी । राजहंस तो होतसे ॥३४॥

patita mhaṇe svāmīsī | tava darśana jāhale āmhāmsī | kāvaḷā jātā mānasāsī | rājahamsa to hotase ||34||

The fallen man says to the master: 'By gaining your darśana (sight/audience), we are as a crow that, entering Lake Mānasa, becomes a royal swan.'

He uses a classical image, the crow transformed into a swan by the sacred lake, to describe how the guru's presence has already utterly transformed him within.

Recognize that being near someone of genuine wisdom and goodness can itself begin to change who you are.

तैस तव दर्शनमात्रे । पवित्र झाली सकळ गात्रे । तारावे आता त्वा कृपापात्रे । शरणागतासी ॥३५॥

taisa tava darśanamātre | pavitra jhālī sakaḷa gātre | tārāve ātā tvā kṛpāpātre | śaraṇāgatāsī ||35||

'Just so, by the mere sight of you, all my limbs have become pure; now, O vessel of compassion, save this one who has taken refuge in you.'

He pleads using the language of śaraṇāgati (surrender, taking refuge), the classic devotional posture of throwing oneself entirely on the teacher's mercy.

When you need help, ask for it directly and humbly rather than pretending you can manage alone.

परिस लागता लोखंडासी । सुवर्ण होय तत्क्षणेसी । सुवर्ण मागुती लोहासी । केवी मिळे स्वामिया ॥३६॥

parisa lāgatā lokhamḍāsī | suvarṇa hoya tatkṣaṇesī | suvarṇa māgutī lohāsī | kevī miḷe svāmiyā ||36||

'When a touchstone touches iron, it becomes gold at that very instant; but gold, once made, can never again become iron; how could it, my lord?'

He argues by analogy that true inner transformation cannot be undone; once purified by contact with the guru, he insists he cannot revert to his former state.

Trust that real inner change, once it has genuinely taken root in you, is not so easily lost.

तव दर्शनसुधारसी । आपण झालो ज्ञानराशी । अभिमंत्रोनि आम्हांसी । विप्रांमध्ये मिळवावे ॥३७॥

tava darśanasudhārasī | āpaṇa jhālo jñānarāśī | abhimamtroni āmhāmsī | viprāmmadhye miḷavāve ||37||

'By the nectar-like elixir of your darśana, I have become a very mass of knowledge; kindly consecrate me with mantra and admit me among the brahmins.'

He asks not just for inner change but for outward, social restoration, to be formally received back into the community he was born outside of.

Understand that true healing often needs both an inner change of heart and a real return to community, not one without the other.

ऐकोनि तयाचे वचन । गुरु बोलती हासोन । तव देह जातिहीन । विप्र केवी म्हणतील ॥३८॥

aikoni tayāce vacana | guru bolatī hāsona | tava deha jātihīna | vipra kevī mhaṇatīla ||38||

Hearing his words, the Guru speaks, smiling: 'Your body, by birth, is of no caste; how could the brahmins call you a brahmin?'

The Guru's smile softens what could be a harsh rejection; he is about to explain a hard truth gently, not cruelly.

When you must tell someone a hard truth, deliver it with warmth rather than coldness.

पतिताच्या गृहासी । उपजोनि तू वाढलासी । ब्रह्मत्व केवी पावसी । विप्र निंदा करितील ॥३९॥

patitācyā gṛhāsī | upajoni tū vāḍhalāsī | brahmatva kevī pāvasī | vipra nimdā karitīla ||39||

'Born and raised in the house of a fallen man, how will you attain brahminhood? The brahmins will only revile you if you claim it now.'

The Guru names the real social obstacle plainly: birth and upbringing carry weight in how a community will receive someone, however inwardly transformed they are.

Be realistic about the practical obstacles a community's judgment may place before genuine inner change is recognized.

पूर्वी ऐसा विश्वामित्र । क्षत्रियवंशी गाधिपुत्र । तपोबळे म्हणवी पवित्र । म्हणे तो विप्र आपणा ॥१४०॥

pūrvī aisā viśvāmitra | kṣatriyavamśī gādhiputra | tapobaḷe mhaṇavī pavitra | mhaṇe to vipra āpaṇā ||140||

'There was once such a man as Viśvāmitra, of the kṣatriya (warrior) lineage, son of Gādhi, who by the power of his austerities (tapas) declared himself pure and called himself a brahmin.'

The Guru now teaches by story rather than by direct command; the tale of Viśvāmitra will illustrate exactly why claiming a status is not the same as truly earning it.

Learn hard lessons through stories and examples when a direct instruction alone would not persuade you.

ब्रह्मयाची शत वर्षे । तप केले महाक्लेशे । त्याचे बळे म्हणवीतसे । ब्रह्मऋषी आपणा ॥४१॥

brahmayācī śata varṣe | tapa kele mahākleśe | tyāce baḷe mhaṇavītase | brahmaṛṣī āpaṇā ||41||

He performed austerities for a hundred years of Brahmā's reckoning, with great hardship, and by that power called himself a brahmarṣi (brahmin-sage).

Even extraordinary personal effort, sustained for what seems an unimaginable span, is shown as insufficient by itself; the claim to the title still needed outside recognition.

Do not assume that hard effort alone entitles you to recognition; earn it and let it be acknowledged, rather than declaring it yourself.

इंद्रादि सुरवरांसी । विनविता झाला परियेसी । आपणाते ब्रह्मर्षि । म्हणा ऐसे बोलतसे ॥४२॥

imdrādi suravarāmsī | vinavitā jhālā pariyesī | āpaṇāte brahmarṣi | mhaṇā aise bolatase ||42||

He entreated Indra and the other gods, saying to them: 'You must call me brahmarṣi.'

Viśvāmitra seeks validation from the highest authorities he can find, revealing how much he still craved external confirmation of his inner claim.

Notice when your desire for a title or praise is outrunning the substance of what you have actually become.

देव म्हणती तयासी । आम्हा गुरु वसिष्ठ ऋषि । जरी तो बोले ब्रह्मऋषि । तरी आम्ही अंगिकारू ॥४३॥

deva mhaṇatī tayāsī | āmhā guru vasiṣṭha ṛṣi | jarī to bole brahmaṛṣi | tarī āmhī amgikārū ||43||

The gods said to him: 'Our guru is the sage Vasiṣṭha; if he calls you brahmarṣi, then we too shall accept it.'

The gods defer to their own teacher's judgment rather than deciding on their own, a model of humility even among the powerful.

Defer to the judgment of a trusted, wise authority rather than deciding matters of your own worth by yourself.

मग त्या वसिष्ठासी । विनवी विश्वामित्र ऋषि । विप्र म्हणा आपणासी । केले तप बहुकाळ ॥४४॥

maga tyā vasiṣṭhāsī | vinavī viśvāmitra ṛṣi | vipra mhaṇā āpaṇāsī | kele tapa bahukāḷa ||44||

Then Viśvāmitra entreated that same Vasiṣṭha: 'Call me a brahmin; I have performed austerities for a very long time.'

He appeals directly to the one person whose word actually carries weight, but he still argues from the length of his effort rather than any change of heart.

When seeking real recognition, be ready to make your case honestly to the person whose judgment truly matters.

वसिष्ठ म्हणे विश्वामित्र । क्षत्रिय तपास अपात्र । देह टाकोनि मग पवित्र । विप्रकुळी जन्मावे ॥४५॥

vasiṣṭha mhaṇe viśvāmitra | kṣatriya tapāsa apātra | deha ṭākoni maga pavitra | viprakuḷī janmāve ||45||

Vasiṣṭha said: 'Viśvāmitra, a kṣatriya is not fit for that attainment through tapas alone; you must give up this body, and only then be born, purified, into a brahmin family.'

Vasiṣṭha's blunt answer echoes what Śrī Guru has just told the fallen man: the birth one is given cannot simply be argued or willed away in the very same lifetime.

Accept that some transformations take real time and cannot be forced to happen immediately by insistence alone.

मग तुझा होईल व्रतबंध । होईल गायत्रीप्रबोध । तधी तुवा होसी शुद्ध । ब्रह्मऋषि नाम तुझे ॥४६॥

maga tujhā hoīla vratabamdha | hoīla gāyatrīprabodha | tadhī tuvā hosī śuddha | brahmaṛṣi nāma tujhe ||46||

'Then you will undergo the sacred-thread rite (vratabandha), you will receive the awakening of the gāyatrī; then you will be pure, and your name will be brahmarṣi.'

Vasiṣṭha lays out a real path, not a permanent refusal; the door to becoming brahmarṣi remains open, but only through the proper stages, not by shortcut.

When you must refuse someone's shortcut, also show them the real, longer path that is actually open to them.

काही केल्या न म्हणे विप्र । मग कोपला विश्वामित्र । वसिष्ठाचे शत पुत्र । मारिता झाला तये वेळी ॥४७॥

kāhī kelyā na mhaṇe vipra | maga kopalā viśvāmitra | vasiṣṭhāce śata putra | māritā jhālā taye veḷī ||47||

No matter what happened, Vasiṣṭha would not call him a brahmin; then Viśvāmitra grew furious, and at that time killed Vasiṣṭha's hundred sons.

Viśvāmitra's rage at being refused escalates into horrific violence, a stark warning about where wounded pride and impatience for recognition can lead.

When you are refused recognition you feel you deserve, resist the urge to lash out in anger.

ब्रह्मज्ञानी वसिष्ठ ऋषि । नव्हे कदा तामसी । अथवा न म्हणे ब्रह्मऋषि । तया विश्वामित्रासी ॥४८॥

brahmajñānī vasiṣṭha ṛṣi | navhe kadā tāmasī | athavā na mhaṇe brahmaṛṣi | tayā viśvāmitrāsī ||48||

Vasiṣṭha, the brahma-knowing sage, was never given to anger even then, nor would he now call Viśvāmitra a brahmarṣi.

Vasiṣṭha's composure amid grievous loss is held up as the mark of true realization; genuine wisdom does not retaliate even when deeply wronged.

Hold on to your composure and integrity even when you have been terribly wronged.

वर्तता ऐसे एके दिवसी । विश्वामित्र कोपेसी । हाती घेउनी पर्वतासी । घालू आला वसिष्ठावरी ॥४९॥

vartatā aise eke divasī | viśvāmitra kopesī | hātī gheunī parvatāsī | ghālū ālā vasiṣṭhāvarī ||49||

One day, in his fury, Viśvāmitra took up a mountain in his hands and came to hurl it upon Vasiṣṭha.

His anger, left unresolved, escalates further still, showing how an untreated grievance can keep growing rather than fading with time.

Deal with a grievance while it is small, before it grows into something you cannot control.

विचार करीत मागुती मनी । जरी वधीन वसिष्ठमुनि । आपणाते न म्हणे कोणी । ब्रह्मऋषि म्हणोनिया ॥१५०॥

vicāra karīta māgutī manī | jarī vadhīna vasiṣṭhamuni | āpaṇāte na mhaṇe koṇī | brahmaṛṣi mhaṇoniyā ||150||

But then he thought again in his mind: 'If I kill sage Vasiṣṭha, then no one at all will ever call me brahmarṣi.'

His restraint here comes from self-interested calculation rather than compassion, a reminder that even a self-serving thought can, providentially, prevent disaster.

If compassion does not stop you in a moment of anger, let plain foresight about consequences hold you back instead.

इंद्रादि देव समस्त ऋषि । म्हणती वसिष्ठवाक्यासरसी । आपण म्हणो ब्रह्मऋषि । अन्यथा नाही म्हणोनिया ॥५१॥

imdrādi deva samasta ṛṣi | mhaṇatī vasiṣṭhavākyāsarasī | āpaṇa mhaṇo brahmaṛṣi | anyathā nāhī mhaṇoniyā ||51||

Indra and all the gods and sages said, in keeping with Vasiṣṭha's own word: 'We ourselves shall call you brahmarṣi; there is no other way it can be.'

The gods reaffirm that true recognition must still flow through Vasiṣṭha's authority, reinforcing that legitimate status cannot simply be seized by force.

Understand that real recognition cannot be taken by force; it must be freely given by those whose judgment carries weight.

ऐशा वसिष्ठमुनीस । मारिता यासी फार दोष । म्हणोनि टाकी गिरिवरास । भूमीवरी परियेसा ॥५२॥

aiśā vasiṣṭhamunīsa | māritā yāsī phāra doṣa | mhaṇoni ṭākī girivarāsa | bhūmīvarī pariyesā ||52||

Realizing that killing such a sage as Vasiṣṭha would be an immense sin, he therefore cast the great mountain down upon the earth instead.

At the last moment, conscience, or at least the recognition of consequence, prevails over rage, and violence is averted.

Give yourself one more moment to reconsider before an act of anger becomes irreversible.

अनुतप्त झाला अंतःकरणी । वसिष्ठे ते ओळखूनि । ब्रह्मऋषि म्हणोनि । पाचारिले तये वेळी ॥५३॥

anutapta jhālā amtaḥkaraṇī | vasiṣṭhe te oḷakhūni | brahmaṛṣi mhaṇoni | pācārile taye veḷī ||53||

He became repentant in his heart; Vasiṣṭha, perceiving this change, called him brahmarṣi at that very moment.

It is the sincerity of his inward repentance, not his tapas, not his rage, not his threats, that finally earns him the title he sought all along.

Recognize genuine remorse in others quickly and generously once you see it, rather than continuing to withhold your trust.

संतोषोनि विश्वामित्र । म्हणे बोल बोलिला पवित्र । म्हणे घरी अन्नमात्र । तुम्ही घ्यावे स्वामिया ॥५४॥

samtoṣoni viśvāmitra | mhaṇe bola bolilā pavitra | mhaṇe gharī annamātra | tumhī ghyāve svāmiyā ||54||

Viśvāmitra, overjoyed, said: 'You have spoken a sacred word'; and said, 'Please accept a meal, my lord, at my home.'

His joy immediately turns to hospitality, the natural next gesture of gratitude toward the one who has finally recognized him.

Express gratitude concretely, through hospitality or a real gift, when someone finally extends you trust or forgiveness.

संतोषोनि वसिष्ठ । तयालागी बोलत । म्हणे शरीर हे निभ्रांत । सूर्यकिरणी पचवावे ॥५५॥

samtoṣoni vasiṣṭha | tayālāgī bolata | mhaṇe śarīra he nibhrāmta | sūryakiraṇī pacavāve ||55||

Vasiṣṭha, pleased, said to him: 'Let this body of mine, without doubt, be cooked, that is, consumed, by the rays of the sun.'

Vasiṣṭha sets an extraordinary condition for accepting the meal, foreshadowing that this whole exchange will resolve through an act of ascetic transformation, not an ordinary dinner.

Be ready for a generous offer to sometimes come with an unusual, testing condition attached.

विश्वामित्रे अंगिकारिले । सूर्यकिरणे देहा जाळिले । सहस्त्रकिरणी तापले । देह सर्व भस्म झाला ॥५६॥

viśvāmitre amgikārile | sūryakiraṇe dehā jāḷile | sahastrakiraṇī tāpale | deha sarva bhasma jhālā ||56||

Viśvāmitra accepted this; he burned his own body with the rays of the sun; heated by a thousand rays, his whole body turned to ash.

Viśvāmitra himself undergoes the literal death-and-rebirth of body that Vasiṣṭha earlier said was required; he does not ask another to bear it, but bears it himself.

Be willing to undergo real sacrifice yourself rather than only asking it of others.

विश्वामित्र महामुनि । अतिसामर्थ्य अनुष्ठानी । पहिला देह जाळोनि । नूतन देह धरियेला ॥५७॥

viśvāmitra mahāmuni | atisāmarthya anuṣṭhānī | pahilā deha jāḷoni | nūtana deha dhariyelā ||57||

Viśvāmitra, the great sage, of immense capacity through his austerities, having burnt away his former body, took on a new body.

His years of tapas (austerity) finally bear fruit not as a claimed title but as literal transformation, proof that his inner power was in fact real all along.

Let genuine, sustained effort eventually show itself through real transformation, not just words.

ब्रह्मर्षि तेथोन । विश्वामित्र झाला जाण । सकळांसी मान्य । महाराज ॥५८॥

brahmarṣi tethona | viśvāmitra jhālā jāṇa | sakaḷāmsī mānya | mahārāja ||58||

From that time he became known as Brahmarṣi Viśvāmitra, honored and accepted by all as a great king among sages.

Recognition, once truly earned through this transformation, arrives freely and completely; the whole struggle for validation finally resolves.

Trust that recognition will come naturally once your inner change is real and complete; you will not need to fight for it.

मग म्हणती सकळ मुनि । विश्वामित्र ब्रह्मज्ञानी । ब्रह्मऋषी म्हणोनि । झाला त्रिभुवनी प्रख्यात ॥५९॥

maga mhaṇatī sakaḷa muni | viśvāmitra brahmajñānī | brahmaṛṣī mhaṇoni | jhālā tribhuvanī prakhyāta ||59||

Then all the sages declared: 'Viśvāmitra is a knower of Brahman'; calling him brahmarṣi, he became famed throughout the three worlds.

His fame becomes universal and undisputed; the story's resolution shows that authentic realization is eventually recognized by everyone, not just a few.

Let your character speak for itself over time rather than seeking everyone's approval all at once.

या कारणे तव देह । विसर्जावा जन्म इह । अनुतप्त तव भाव । ब्रह्मकुल भाविसी ॥१६०॥

yā kāraṇe tava deha | visarjāvā janma iha | anutapta tava bhāva | brahmakula bhāvisī ||160||

'For this reason,' Guru concludes to the fallen man, 'you must give up this present birth here; with a truly repentant heart, hold to the aspiration of a brahmin family in your next birth.'

The Guru applies Viśvāmitra's lesson directly: real transformation of status, like Viśvāmitra's, requires patience across a birth, not an instant demand answered today.

Accept patiently that some changes you long for will unfold over a longer time than you wish, and prepare well for them.

ऐसे त्या पतितासी । बोधिता गुरु परियेसी । लाधले सुख त्यासी । त्याच्या मानसी न ये काही ॥६१॥

aise tyā patitāsī | bodhitā guru pariyesī | lādhale sukha tyāsī | tyācyā mānasī na ye kāhī ||61||

Thus Guru instructed the fallen man; but such happiness had come upon him that nothing else could enter his mind.

Even hearing that he must wait for a future birth, his overwhelming joy at the Guru's darśana leaves no room for disappointment or further reasoning.

Let a genuine experience of grace or joy in your life outweigh disappointment over what you cannot yet have.

निधान सापडे दरिद्र्यासी । तो का सांडील संतोषी । अमृत सापडता रोग्यासी । का सांडील जीवित्व ॥६२॥

nidhāna sāpaḍe daridryāsī | to kā sāmḍīla samtoṣī | amṛta sāpaḍatā rogyāsī | kā sāmḍīla jīvitva ||62||

If a poor man finds a hidden treasure, will he abandon that joy? If a sick man finds the nectar of immortality, will he abandon his life?

Two vivid images capture how thoroughly the man now clings to his new inner state; such joy, once found, is not something one willingly gives up.

When you find something that truly heals or fulfills you, hold onto it with your whole heart.

एखादे ढोर उपवासी । पावे तृणबिढारासी । तेथोनि जावया त्यासी । मन नव्हे सर्वथा ॥६३॥

ekhāde ḍhora upavāsī | pāve tṛṇabiḍhārāsī | tethoni jāvayā tyāsī | mana navhe sarvathā ||63||

As some starving cattle, upon reaching a place of grazing grass, has no wish at all to leave from there.

A homely image from everyday rural life makes the same point simply: deep hunger, once satisfied, resists giving up its source.

Recognize your own deep hungers honestly, and once you find what truly satisfies them, don't wander from it.

तैसे त्या पतितासी । लागले ध्यान गुरूसी । न जाय आपुल्या मंदिरासी । विप्र आपणा म्हणतसे ॥६४॥

taise tyā patitāsī | lāgale dhyāna gurūsī | na jāya āpulyā mamdirāsī | vipra āpaṇā mhaṇatase ||64||

So too that fallen man became fixed in meditation upon the Guru; he would not go to his own home, and called himself a brahmin.

His transformation has become so total that he begins to forget his former household duties entirely; devotion, taken to an extreme, can eclipse other responsibilities.

Notice when devotion to one good thing begins to make you neglect other real responsibilities, and bring it back into balance.

इतुके होता ते अवसरी । आली त्यांची पुत्रनारी । म्हणो लागले अपस्मारी । म्हणोनि आलो धावत ॥६५॥

ituke hotā te avasarī | ālī tyāmcī putranārī | mhaṇo lāgale apasmārī | mhaṇoni ālo dhāvata ||65||

While this was happening, his son's wife came, saying, 'She has begun to suffer a fit'; 'therefore I came running.'

Ordinary domestic crisis intrudes on the scene of spiritual absorption, a reminder that family need does not wait for anyone's convenience.

Stay reachable to your family's real emergencies even during your times of deep personal focus.

जवळ येता स्त्रियेसी । स्पर्शो नको म्हणे तिसी । कोपेकरोनि मारावयासी । जात असे तो पतित ॥६६॥

javaḷa yetā striyesī | sparśo nako mhaṇe tisī | kopekaroni mārāvayāsī | jāta ase to patita ||66||

As she came near, he told her, 'Do not touch me'; and in anger, that fallen man went as if to strike her.

In his transformed, aloof state he reacts harshly to his own kin's approach, showing how a real spiritual gift can, if misapplied, curdle into coldness toward family.

Do not let newfound spiritual conviction make you harsh or unkind toward the people who depend on you.

दुःख करी ती भार्या । दुरुनी नमे गुरुपाया । पति माते सोडोनिया । जातो आता काय करू ॥६७॥

duḥkha karī tī bhāryā | durunī name gurupāyā | pati māte soḍoniyā | jāto ātā kāya karū ||67||

That wife grieved; bowing from a distance to the Guru's feet, she said: 'My husband is leaving me, the mother of his children; what shall I do now?'

Her grief and helpless appeal to the Guru shows the human cost of the fallen man's transformation on those left behind, a cost the text does not ignore.

Weigh the impact of your personal transformation on those who depend on you, and don't dismiss their real distress.

कन्या पुत्र मज बहुत । तया कोण पाळित । आम्हा सांडोनि जातो किमर्थ । सांगा तयासी स्वामिया ॥६८॥

kanyā putra maja bahuta | tayā koṇa pāḷita | āmhā sāmḍoni jāto kimartha | sāmgā tayāsī svāmiyā ||68||

'I have many daughters and sons; who will care for them? Why is he abandoning us? Please, my lord, tell him to stay.'

She pleads on behalf of practical, concrete needs, food, care, protection for children, against her husband's newly awakened spiritual absorption.

Take seriously the practical needs of dependents when weighing any major personal change.

जरी न सांगाल स्वामी त्यासी । त्यजीन प्राण पुत्रासरसी । येरवी आपणाते कोण पोषी । अनाथ मी स्वामिया ॥६९॥

jarī na sāmgāla svāmī tyāsī | tyajīna prāṇa putrāsarasī | yeravī āpaṇāte koṇa poṣī | anātha mī svāmiyā ||69||

'If you, my lord, do not tell him, I shall give up my life along with my children; otherwise who will support us? I am helpless, my lord.'

Her desperate words convey real crisis, not exaggeration for effect; the Guru is now compelled to intervene directly in the man's domestic life.

Take another person's expressed desperation seriously, and act to help before it worsens.

ऐकोनि तियेचे वचन । गुरु बोलती हासोन । त्या नराते बोलावून । सांगताती परियेसा ॥१७०॥

aikoni tiyece vacana | guru bolatī hāsona | tyā narāte bolāvūna | sāmgatātī pariyesā ||170||

Hearing her words, the Guru, smiling, called that man to him and spoke as follows.

The Guru's smile again signals compassionate, unhurried authority; he is about to resolve the crisis, not scold anyone in anger.

Approach a family crisis with calm and warmth rather than agitation, even while acting decisively.

गुरु म्हणती पतितासी । जावे आपुल्या घरासी । पुत्रकलश क्षोभता दोषी । तूते केवी गति होय ॥७१॥

guru mhaṇatī patitāsī | jāve āpulyā gharāsī | putrakalaśa kṣobhatā doṣī | tūte kevī gati hoya ||71||

Guru says to the fallen man: 'Go to your own home; if your wife and children become distressed by your neglect, that itself is a sin; how then will you attain your spiritual end?'

The Guru reframes household duty itself as spiritual practice; neglecting dependents in pursuit of one's own liberation is treated as a fault, not a virtue.

Do not neglect the people who depend on you in the name of your own personal or spiritual progress.

या संसारी जन्मोनिया । संतोषवावे इंद्रिया । मग पावे धर्मकाया । तरीच तरे भवार्णव ॥७२॥

yā samsārī janmoniyā | samtoṣavāve imdriyā | maga pāve dharmakāyā | tarīca tare bhavārṇava ||72||

'Having been born into this worldly life, one must also fulfill it rightly; only then does one attain a righteous state, and only thus does one cross the ocean of worldly existence.'

The Guru teaches that the householder's duties (saṃsāra) are not opposed to liberation but are the very ground on which it must first be built.

Fulfill your ordinary daily duties faithfully as part of your path, not as an obstacle to it.

या कारणे पूर्वीच जाणा । न करावी आपण अंगना । करोनि तिसी त्यजिता जाणा । महादोष बोलिजे ॥७३॥

yā kāraṇe pūrvīca jāṇā | na karāvī āpaṇa amganā | karoni tisī tyajitā jāṇā | mahādoṣa bolije ||73||

'For this reason, know it well beforehand: one should not take a wife only to abandon her; to marry her and then forsake her is called a very great sin.'

The Guru states plainly that commitments once made, especially marriage, carry binding moral weight that spiritual awakening does not erase.

Honor the commitments you have already made to others, even when a new personal calling tempts you to walk away from them.

सूर्य-भूमी-साक्षीसी । तुवा वरिले स्त्रियेसी । तीस त्यागिता महादोषी । तूते नव्हे गति जाण ॥७४॥

sūrya-bhūmī-sākṣīsī | tuvā varile striyesī | tīsa tyāgitā mahādoṣī | tūte navhe gati jāṇa ||74||

'With the sun and the earth as your witnesses, you took this woman as your wife; abandoning her now is a grave sin; know that you will not attain true liberation this way.'

Marriage vows are framed here as witnessed by the cosmos itself, making their breach a matter of cosmic, not merely social, seriousness.

Treat the promises you make to loved ones as binding and sacred, not casually revocable.

श्रीगुरुवचन ऐकोन । विनवीतसे कर जोडून । केवी होऊ जातिहीन । ज्ञान होवोनि मागुती ॥७५॥

śrīguruvacana aikona | vinavītase kara joḍūna | kevī hoū jātihīna | jñāna hovoni māgutī ||75||

Hearing Śrī Guru's words, the fallen man entreats with folded hands: 'Having attained wisdom, how can I now become base once more?'

His honest confusion voices a real tension: he does not want to lose the transformed awareness he has just gained, even while accepting he must return home.

Voice your honest confusion to a trusted guide rather than silently resisting instructions you don't yet understand.

श्रीगुरु मनी विचारिती । याचे अंगी असे विभूति । प्रक्षाळावे लुब्धका-हाती । अज्ञानत्व पावेल ॥७६॥

śrīguru manī vicāritī | yāce amgī ase vibhūti | prakṣāḷāve lubdhakā-hātī | ajñānatva pāvela ||76||

Śrī Guru considers in his mind: 'On his body there is sacred ash (vibhūti); if it is washed off by the hand of a covetous man, he will regain his former unawareness.'

The Guru finds a compassionate solution: rather than denying the man's transformation, he devises a way to gently and temporarily set it aside so the man can meet his family duty.

Look for a creative solution that honors both sides of a real conflict rather than simply forcing someone to choose.

ऐसे मनी विचारूनि । सांगती शिष्यासी बोलावोनि । एका लुब्धका पाचारोनि । आणा अतित्वरेसी ॥७७॥

aise manī vicārūni | sāmgatī śiṣyāsī bolāvoni | ekā lubdhakā pācāroni | āṇā atitvaresī ||77||

Thinking thus in his mind, he told his disciple, calling for a certain covetous man to be brought at once, very quickly.

The Guru acts decisively and practically on his insight, showing that wise compassion still requires concrete follow-through, not just good intentions.

Once you see a wise solution to someone's dilemma, act on it promptly rather than merely thinking about it.

तया ग्रामी द्विज एक । करी उदीम वाणिक । तयाते पाचारिती ऐक । तया पतितासन्निध ॥७८॥

tayā grāmī dvija eka | karī udīma vāṇika | tayāte pācāritī aika | tayā patitāsannidha ||78||

In that village there was a certain brahmin who carried on trade as a merchant; they called for him, and he was brought near that fallen man.

The covetous man turns out to be an ordinary merchant, whose worldly, transactional touch is exactly what is needed to gently undo the ash's rarefied effect.

Recognize that an ordinary, practical person can sometimes be exactly the right helper for a delicate situation.

श्रीगुरु म्हणती त्यासी । उदक घेवोनि हस्तेसी । स्नपन करी गा पतितासी । होय आसक्त संसारी ॥७९॥

śrīguru mhaṇatī tyāsī | udaka ghevoni hastesī | snapana karī gā patitāsī | hoya āsakta samsārī ||79||

Śrī Guru said to him: 'Take water in your hand and bathe this fallen man, so that he becomes attached to worldly life once more.'

The Guru deliberately reverses, for now, the man's rarefied state so he can return to his household duties, showing that even a guru's blessing may be applied and withdrawn wisely, according to need.

Be willing to set aside even a genuine spiritual high, for a time, when your family truly needs your grounded presence.

आज्ञा होता ब्राह्मण । आला उदक घेऊन । त्यावरी घालिता तत्‌क्षण । गेली विभूति धुवोनि ॥८०॥

ājñā hotā brāhmaṇa | ālā udaka gheūna | tyāvarī ghālitā tat‌kṣaṇa | gelī vibhūti dhuvoni ||80||

At the command, the brahmin came bearing water; as it was poured upon him, the sacred ash was instantly washed away.

The physical act, water washing away the ash, mirrors the change happening within: his rarefied awareness recedes as quickly as it had come.

Accept that a state of heightened clarity or feeling may pass as quickly as it arrived; don't cling to it against practical need.

विभूति धूता पतिताचे । झाले अज्ञान मन त्याचे । मुख पाहता स्त्री-पुत्रांचे । धावत गेला त्याजवळी ॥८१॥

vibhūti dhūtā patitāce | jhāle ajñāna mana tyāce | mukha pāhatā strī-putrāmce | dhāvata gelā tyājavaḷī ||81||

When the fallen man's sacred ash was washed away, his mind reverted to its ordinary unawareness; seeing the faces of his wife and children, he ran to them.

His love for his family reasserts itself instantly and instinctively, showing that ordinary human bonds, once restored, are not lesser than the rarefied state he briefly held.

Trust your instinctive love for your family to reassert itself; it is not opposed to a deeper spiritual life.

आलिंगोनिया पुत्रासी । भ्रांति म्हणे त्यासी । का आलो या स्थळासी । तुम्ही आला कवण कार्या ॥८२॥

ālimgoniyā putrāsī | bhrāmti mhaṇe tyāsī | kā ālo yā sthaḷāsī | tumhī ālā kavaṇa kāryā ||82||

Embracing his son, in bewilderment he said to them: 'Why have I come to this place? For what purpose have you come here?'

His confusion shows he has no memory of his transformed state, a gentle, deliberate forgetting that spares him the disorientation of straddling two realities.

Allow yourself, and others, a clean transition back to ordinary life after an intense experience, without dwelling on confusion about it.

ऐसा मनी विस्मय करीत । निघोनि घरा गेला पतित । सांगितला वृत्तान्त । विस्मय सर्व करिताती ॥८३॥

aisā manī vismaya karīta | nighoni gharā gelā patita | sāmgitalā vṛttānta | vismaya sarva karitātī ||83||

Wondering thus in his mind, the fallen man left and went home; he related the whole account, and everyone was filled with amazement.

The story now travels outward from his household into the wider community, becoming a shared marvel rather than a private experience.

Share a genuine, transformative experience honestly with others rather than keeping it entirely to yourself.

इतुके झाले कौतुक । पहाती नगरलोक । विस्मय करिती सकळिक । म्हणती अभिनव काय झाले ॥८४॥

ituke jhāle kautuka | pahātī nagaraloka | vismaya karitī sakaḷika | mhaṇatī abhinava kāya jhāle ||84||

Such a wonder occurred that the townspeople came to see it; all were astonished, saying, 'What an extraordinary thing has happened!'

The whole town becomes a witness to what one man's encounter with the Guru made possible, a public testimony to the reality of grace.

Let your own transformed life stand as honest testimony that can encourage others, without needing to boast.

त्रिविक्रमभारती मुनि । जो का होता गुरुसन्निधानी । पुसतसे विनवोनि । ऐका श्रोते एकचित्ते ॥८५॥

trivikramabhāratī muni | jo kā hotā gurusannidhānī | pusatase vinavoni | aikā śrote ekacitte ||85||

The sage Trivikramabharati, who was present near the Guru, respectfully asked a question; listen, O listeners, with one-pointed attention.

The narrative frame shifts back to the inner circle of disciples, signaling that a deeper teaching is about to follow the outward marvel just witnessed.

After witnessing something remarkable, take the next step of asking sincere questions to understand it more deeply.

त्रिविक्रम म्हणे श्रीगुरूसी । होतो संदेह मानसी । निरोप द्यावा कृपेसी । विनंती एक अवधारा ॥८६॥

trivikrama mhaṇe śrīgurūsī | hoto samdeha mānasī | niropa dyāvā kṛpesī | vinamtī eka avadhārā ||86||

Trivikrama said to Śrī Guru: 'A doubt has arisen in my mind; kindly grant me your explanation, please hear this one request.'

His humble, direct request for clarification models how a sincere student should approach a teacher with real confusion, rather than pretending to already understand.

Admit your confusion honestly to a teacher instead of pretending to understand something you don't.

महापतित जातिहीन जाण । तयाते दिधले दिव्यज्ञान । अंग धुता तत्‌क्षण । गेले ज्ञान केवी त्याचे ॥८७॥

mahāpatita jātihīna jāṇa | tayāte didhale divyajñāna | amga dhutā tat‌kṣaṇa | gele jñāna kevī tyāce ||87||

'You gave divine knowledge to that greatly fallen, casteless man; yet the moment his body was washed, that knowledge vanished; how could this be?'

Trivikrama voices the very question a careful listener would ask: if the wisdom was real, why did mere water undo it? The story now turns to explain the deeper meaning of the sacred ash.

Question apparent contradictions honestly rather than letting them sit unresolved in your understanding.

विस्तारोनि आम्हांसी । निरोपावे कृपेसी । म्हणोनि लागला चरणांसी । भावभक्ति करोनिया ॥८८॥

vistāroni āmhāmsī | niropāve kṛpesī | mhaṇoni lāgalā caraṇāmsī | bhāvabhakti karoniyā ||88||

'Please explain this to us fully, out of your grace'; so saying, he fell at the Guru's feet with heartfelt devotion.

His physical gesture of prostration accompanies his intellectual question; true inquiry here is paired with humility, not detached curiosity alone.

Approach your search for understanding with humility as well as with sharp questions.

ऐसे पुत्र त्रिविक्रम यति । श्रीगुरु तया निरोपिती । त्याचे अंगाची विभूति । धुता गेले ज्ञान त्याचे ॥८९॥

aise putra trivikrama yati | śrīguru tayā niropitī | tyāce amgācī vibhūti | dhutā gele jñāna tyāce ||89||

Thus asked by his disciple Trivikrama, Śrī Guru explained to him: 'The sacred ash (vibhūti) on his body, when it was washed away, his knowledge departed with it.'

The Guru confirms plainly that the vibhūti itself was the vehicle carrying the transformed awareness; a physical sign was not incidental but essential to the grace it conveyed.

Respect the outward signs and practices that carry your own inner convictions; do not treat them as merely decorative.

ऐसे विभूतीचे महिमान । माहात्म्य असे पावन । सांच होय ब्रह्म पूर्ण । भस्ममहिमा अपार ॥१९०॥

aise vibhūtīce mahimāna | māhātmya ase pāvana | sāmca hoya brahma pūrṇa | bhasmamahimā apāra ||190||

Such is the glory of sacred ash (vibhūti); its greatness is purifying indeed, it truly becomes the fullness of Brahman itself; the glory of holy ash is boundless.

The chapter elevates a humble substance, ash, to the status of ultimate reality itself, teaching that the sacred can be found fully present in the simplest, most ordinary things.

Look for the sacred and meaningful in humble, ordinary things around you, not only in grand or rare experiences.

गुरुवचन ऐकोनि । विनवीतसे त्रिविक्रम मुनि । देव गुरुशिरोमणि । भस्ममहिमा निरोपावा ॥९१॥

guruvacana aikoni | vinavītase trivikrama muni | deva guruśiromaṇi | bhasmamahimā niropāvā ||91||

Hearing the Guru's words, sage Trivikrama entreated further: 'O crown-jewel among gurus, please explain to us the full glory of sacred ash.'

His continued eagerness to learn more shows how one true answer, rather than satisfying curiosity, often deepens the desire to understand further.

Let a good answer deepen your curiosity rather than close it off; keep asking sincere follow-up questions.

सिद्ध म्हणे शिष्यासी । भस्ममहिमा परियेसी । गुरु सांगता विस्तारेसी । एकचित्ते अवधारा ॥९२॥

siddha mhaṇe śiṣyāsī | bhasmamahimā pariyesī | guru sāmgatā vistāresī | ekacitte avadhārā ||92||

Siddha says to his disciple: 'Listen now to the glory of sacred ash; the Guru will explain it at length, attend with a single-pointed mind.'

The narrator Siddha signals to Nāmadharaka, and to us as listeners, that a further teaching is coming in the chapters ahead, closing this chapter on a note of anticipation.

Prepare your mind with focused attention before receiving any teaching you consider important.

म्हणोनि सरस्वतिगंगाधर । गुरुचरित्रविस्तार । ऐकता होय मनोहर । सकळाभीष्टे साधती ॥९३॥

mhaṇoni sarasvatigamgādhara | gurucaritravistāra | aikatā hoya manohara | sakaḷābhīṣṭe sādhatī ||93||

Thus says Sarasvatī Gaṅgādhar: this vast telling of the Gurucaritra, when heard, is delightful to the mind; by it, all desired wishes are fulfilled.

The author steps forward directly, in his own voice, to affirm the fruit of hearing this scripture, a traditional closing blessing found across many chapters.

Trust that sincerely engaging with wisdom literature, again and again, brings real benefit over time.

पुढील कथा पावन । सांगे सिद्ध विस्तारोन । महाराष्ट्रभाषेकरून । सांगे सरस्वती गुरुदास ॥९४॥

puḍhīla kathā pāvana | sāmge siddha vistārona | mahārāṣṭrabhāṣekarūna | sāmge sarasvatī gurudāsa ||94||

The next sacred story, Siddha will tell at length; in the Marathi language, Sarasvatī, the servant of the guru, narrates it.

The author identifies himself humbly as servant of the guru, crediting his teacher's grace as the true source behind his own composition.

Credit those who taught and shaped you whenever you share what you have learned with others.

इति श्रीगुरुचरित्रपरमकथाकल्पतरौ श्रीनृसिंहसरस्वत्युपाख्याने सिद्धनामधारकसंवादे कर्मविपाककथनं नाम अष्टाविंशोऽध्यायः ॥२८॥

iti śrīgurucaritraparamakathākalpatarau śrīnṛsimhasarasvatyupākhyāne siddhanāmadhārakasamvāde karmavipākakathanam nāma aṣṭāvimśo'dhyāyaḥ ||28||

Thus concludes, in the great wish-fulfilling tree of tales that is the Śrī Gurucaritra, in the dialogue of Siddha and Nāmadharaka, in the story of Śrī Nṛsiṃha Sarasvatī, the twenty-eighth chapter, named 'The Narration of the Fruits of Karma.'

This traditional closing formula (iti śrī...) names and seals the chapter, marking the completion of the teaching on karma's consequences and its remedies.

Mark the completion of any significant lesson or effort deliberately, rather than letting it trail off unnoticed.

श्रीगुरुदत्तात्रेयार्पितमस्तु ॥

śrīgurudattātreyārpitamastu ||

May this be offered to Śrī Guru Dattātreya.

A brief dedicatory formula offers the entire chapter's merit back to the divine teacher, reflecting the tradition's view that even one's own effort ultimately belongs to grace.

Dedicate the fruits of your own effort to something greater than yourself rather than claiming them solely as your own.

(ओवीसंख्या १९५)

(ovīsamkhyā 195)

(Verse count: 195)

This is a scribal colophon note recording the traditional count of verses in the chapter, a copyist's bookkeeping rather than part of the narrative itself.

Take care to preserve accurate records of your own work, even in small, unglamorous details.