Shloka 41
नाधर्मस्ते भविता प्राणिनां वै त्वं वै धर्मस्त्वं हि धर्मस्य चेशा । धर्म्या भूत्वा धर्मनित्या धरित्री तस्मात् प्राणान् सर्वथेमान् नियच्छ,निश्चय ही, तुझे पाप नहीं लगेगा। तू प्राणियोंका धर्म और उस धर्मकी स्वामिनी होगी। अतः सदा धर्ममें तत्पर रहनेवाली और धर्मानुकूल जीवन बितानेवाली धरित्री होकर इन समस्त जीवोंके प्राणोंका नियन्त्रण कर
nādharmas te bhavitā prāṇināṁ vai tvaṁ vai dharmas tvaṁ hi dharmasya ceśā | dharmyā bhūtvā dharmanityā dharitrī tasmāt prāṇān sarvathemān niyaccha ||
Nārada said: “No unrighteousness will accrue to you in regard to living beings. You yourself are Dharma, and indeed the sovereign of Dharma. Therefore, becoming righteous—Earth who is ever steadfast in Dharma—restrain and regulate, in every way, the lives of all these creatures.”
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames moral governance as dharmic restraint: when one acts as an agent of Dharma (here, Earth personified), regulating life and conduct for the sake of order is not sinful but a duty aligned with cosmic and ethical law.
Nārada addresses Dharitrī (Earth), assuring her that she will not incur adharma in relation to living beings, because she embodies and rules Dharma; he urges her to remain dharma-steady and to exercise control/regulation over creatures’ lives for maintaining order.