Vamana Purana — Harihara Revelation, Shloka 42
Harihara Revelation and the Kurukshetra Tirtha Cycle: Sthanu in Vishnu and the Sanctification of Saptasarasvata
न ज्ञायते गृहे केन जातस्त्विति स गूञकः बाह्मतः स्वयमानीतः सो ऽपविद्धः प्रकीर्तितः
na jñāyate gṛhe kena jātastviti sa gūñakaḥ bāhmataḥ svayamānītaḥ so 'paviddhaḥ prakīrtitaḥ
In a household, if it is not known by whom a child was begotten, he is called gūḍhaja, “one of concealed paternity.” And one who is brought into the family from outside by his own coming is proclaimed apaviddha, a foundling or abandoned child taken in.
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FAQs
Gūḍhaja is defined by concealed/unknown paternity within a household context (the mother’s partner is not identified). Apaviddha is defined by origin outside the household and being taken in as an abandoned/found child—his social entry is through reception/adoption rather than birth within the home.
Many Purāṇas embed dharmaśāstra material—especially on lineage, inheritance, and ritual eligibility—because tīrtha-yātrā and ritual life presuppose social categories (gotra/putra status) for offerings, śrāddha, and household rites.
The verse is primarily taxonomic (naming categories) rather than moralizing; later dharma passages typically discuss rights/ritual standing, but the label itself functions as a juridical descriptor of origin.