Chapter 18
ग्रीष्मे तप्येत पञ्चाग्नीन् वर्षास्वासारषाड्जले । आकण्ठमग्न: शिशिर एवंवृत्तस्तपश्चरेत् ॥ ४ ॥
Transliteration
grīṣme tapyeta pañcāgnīn varṣāsv āsāra-ṣāḍ jale ākaṇtha-magnaḥ śiśira evaṁ vṛttas tapaś caret
Synonyms (Word-for-Word)
grīṣme — in the summer; tapyeta — one should accept as austerity; pañca-agnīn — five fires (the overhead sun and fires burning on four sides); varṣāsu — during the rainy season; āsāra — torrents of rain; ṣāṭ — tolerating; jale — in water; ā-kaṇṭha — up to the neck; magnaḥ — submerged; śiśire — in the coldest part of winter; evam — thus; vṛttaḥ — engaged; tapaḥ — penance; caret — one should execute.
Translation
“Thus engaged as a vānaprastha, one should execute penance during the hottest summer days by subjecting oneself to burning fires on four sides and the blazing sun overhead; during the rainy season one should remain outside, subjecting oneself to torrents of rain; and in the freezing winter one should remain submerged in water up to one’s neck.”