Shloka 4

Gārhasthya-dharma: Vāsudeva–Pṛthivī-saṃvāda

Householder Duties and Daily Offerings

Devanagari script

वायुदेव उवाच गार्हस्थ्यं धर्ममाश्रित्य मया वा मद्दविधेन वा | किमवश्यं धरे कार्य कि वा कृत्वा कृतं भवेत्‌

Transliteration

vāyudeva uvāca | gārhasthyaṁ dharmam āśritya mayā vā madvidhena vā | kim avaśyaṁ dhare kāryaṁ kiṁ vā kṛtvā kṛtaṁ bhavet ||

Translation

Vāyudeva sprach: „O Erdgöttin, wenn man sich auf das Dharma des Hausvaters stützt—sei es durch mich oder durch einen anderen wie mich—welche Pflicht muss unbedingt erfüllt werden? Und wodurch wird das Leben des Hausvaters wahrhaft vollendet, als wäre alles, was zu tun war, getan?“

Word by Word

• {'vāyudevaḥ': 'the Wind-god (Vāyu), speaker', 'uvāca': 'said', 'gārhasthyam': 'the householder stage/order of life

• domestic life', 'dharmaḥ (dharmaṁ)': 'righteous duty

• moral/religious law', 'āśritya': 'having taken refuge in

• relying upon', 'mayā': 'by me', 'vā': 'or', 'madvidhena': 'by one like me

• of my kind', 'kim': 'what?', 'avaśyam': 'necessarily

• without fail', 'dhare': 'O bearer/supporter (vocative)

• an address to the Earth (Dharā)', 'kāryam': 'to be done

• obligatory act', 'kiṁ vā': 'or else what?', 'kṛtvā': 'having done', 'kṛtam': 'done

• accomplished', 'bhavet': 'would become

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• वायुदेव (Vāyudeva/Vāyu)
• धरा/वसुन्धरा (Dharā/Vasundharā, Earth-goddess)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames a dharma-inquiry: within the householder path, which actions are non-negotiable and which practice brings a sense of complete moral and spiritual fulfillment. It sets up guidance on essential obligations rather than optional virtues.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyudeva addresses Dharā (the Earth-goddess) and asks for instruction about gārhasthya-dharma—what a person living as a householder must do, and what single course of action (or set of actions) makes the householder’s life ‘accomplished’.