Shloka 17
मैत्रेयप्रश्नः—पुराणसंहिताप्रतिज्ञा च
Maitreya’s Questions and Parāśara’s Resolve to Teach
मूढानाम् एष भवति क्रोधो ज्ञानवतां कुतः हन्यते तात कः केन यतः स्वकृतभुक् पुमान्
mūḍhānām eṣa bhavati krodho jñānavatāṃ kutaḥ hanyate tāta kaḥ kena yataḥ svakṛtabhuk pumān
Anger arises in the deluded—how could it belong to the truly wise? For who, dear one, is slain by whom, when every person inevitably experiences the fruits of his own deeds?
Sage Parāśara
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Why the wise do not succumb to anger and how karmic causality reframes notions of injury and agency.
Teaching: Ethical
Quality: revealing
Concept: Anger belongs to delusion because outcomes are governed by one’s own karma, dissolving the simplistic notion of ‘slayer’ and ‘slain’.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: When wronged, reflect on causality and your response; act justly without hatred, focusing on inner purification.
Vishishtadvaita: Acknowledges moral order (karma) under the Supreme’s governance while urging a sāttvika, non-resentful disposition compatible with devotion.
Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman
Bhakti Type: Shanta
FAQs
It teaches that suffering and enjoyment arise from one’s own past actions, so blaming others is ignorance and anger is misplaced.
He contrasts the deluded, who become angry by misattributing agency, with the wise, who see karmic causality and remain composed.
By grounding events in moral causality within universal order, the text supports a Vishnu-governed cosmos where dharma operates and the wise align themselves with that divine order.