Uma Shankara Samvada or the conversation between Uma and Shankara is about the greatness of [[Grhasthashrama (गृहस्थाश्रमः)|grhasthashrama]], the role and duties of a grhastha as described in the Anushasana parva of [[Mahabharata (महाभारतम्)|Mahabharata]]. The [[Yajna (यज्ञः)|yajnas]] of the grhasthas of course cannot rival either the splendour of the yajnas of the rajas, or the sacrificial intensity of the yajnas of the tapasvins. But the disciplined regularity of the performance, described in the classical Bharatiya texts, indeed has a grandeur of its own. In any case, the yajnas of the grhasthas constitute the basic [[Annadana (अन्नदानम्)|annadana]], that so deeply enriches social living in [[Bharatavarsha (भरतवर्षम्)|Bharata]]. And this is probably what endows the grhastha with a crucial centrality in the Bharatiya scheme of things. | Uma Shankara Samvada or the conversation between Uma and Shankara is about the greatness of [[Grhasthashrama (गृहस्थाश्रमः)|grhasthashrama]], the role and duties of a grhastha as described in the Anushasana parva of [[Mahabharata (महाभारतम्)|Mahabharata]]. The [[Yajna (यज्ञः)|yajnas]] of the grhasthas of course cannot rival either the splendour of the yajnas of the rajas, or the sacrificial intensity of the yajnas of the tapasvins. But the disciplined regularity of the performance, described in the classical Bharatiya texts, indeed has a grandeur of its own. In any case, the yajnas of the grhasthas constitute the basic [[Annadana (अन्नदानम्)|annadana]], that so deeply enriches social living in [[Bharatavarsha (भरतवर्षम्)|Bharata]]. And this is probably what endows the grhastha with a crucial centrality in the Bharatiya scheme of things. |