Shloka 62
कल्मषापहर-कीर्तनम् / Kīrtana for the Removal of Impurity
श्रीमहेश्वरने कहा--देवि! शास्त्र लोकधर्मोकी उन मर्यादाओंको स्थापित करते हैं, जो सबके हितके लिये निर्मित हुई हैं। जो उन शास्त्रोंको प्रमाण मानते हैं, वे दृढ़तापूर्वक उत्तम व्रतका पालन करते देखे जाते हैं ।। अधर्म धर्ममित्याहुयें च मोहवशं गता: । अव्रता नष्टमर्यादास्ते प्रोक्ता ब्रह्म॒राक्षसा:,जो मोहके वशीभूत होकर अधर्मको धर्म कहते हैं, वे व्रतहीन मर्यादाको नष्ट करनेवाले पुरुष ब्रह्मराक्षस कहे गये हैं
adharmaṁ dharmam ity āhur ye ca mohavaśaṁ gatāḥ | avratā naṣṭamaryādās te proktā brahmarākṣasāḥ ||
Mahādeva said: “O Devī, the śāstras establish the boundaries of right conduct—standards fashioned for the welfare of all. Those who accept the śāstras as authoritative are seen to observe noble vows with steadfastness. But those who, overcome by delusion, call adharma ‘dharma’—vowless men who destroy the very limits of proper conduct—are declared to be brahma-rākṣasas.”
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Śāstra-based dharma sets protective boundaries (maryādā) meant for universal welfare. When people, driven by delusion, invert moral categories—calling adharma ‘dharma’—and live without vows or restraint, they undermine social and spiritual order and are censured as ‘brahmarākṣasas’.
Śrīmahēśvara addresses Devī in a didactic passage on dharma. He contrasts disciplined followers who accept śāstra as a valid guide and keep noble vows with deluded individuals who mislabel wrongdoing as righteousness and thereby destroy established norms.