Shloka 21

विषप्रयोगः कृत्योत्पादनं च (प्रह्लादस्य अवध्यता, कृत्याविनाशः, पुरोहितानां रक्षणम्)

Devanagari script

धर्मार्थकाममोक्षाख्यः पुरुषार्थ उदाहृतः चतुष्टयम् इदं यस्मात् तस्मात् किं किम् इदं वृथा

Transliteration

dharmārthakāmamokṣākhyaḥ puruṣārtha udāhṛtaḥ catuṣṭayam idaṃ yasmāt tasmāt kiṃ kim idaṃ vṛthā

Translation

The aims of human life are declared to be four—Dharma, Artha, Kāma, and Mokṣa. What could lie beyond these? Why then this vain wandering after other pursuits?

Word by Word

• धर्मार्थकाममोक्षाख्यः: called dharma, artha, kāma, and mokṣa
• धर्मार्थकाममोक्षाख्यः: Visheshana of पुरुषार्थः (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: धर्म (प्रातिपदिक) + अर्थ (प्रातिपदिक) + काम (प्रातिपदिक) + मोक्ष (प्रातिपदिक) + आख्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; बहुपद-तत्पुरुषः: ‘धर्म-अर्थ-काम-मोक्ष-आख्य’ = ‘named dharma, artha, kāma, mokṣa’

• पुरुषार्थः: human goal; aim of life
• पुरुषार्थः: Karta/Subject (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुरुषार्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा, एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (पुरुषस्य अर्थः)

• उदाहृतः: is declared/said
• उदाहृतः: Kriya (predicate) (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: उद्+आ+हृ (धातु) → उदाहृत (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (past passive participle); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• चतुष्टयम्: a set of four; quartet
• चतुष्टयम्: Apposition to पुरुषार्थः (विशेष्य-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: चतुष्टय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन

• इदम्: this
• इदम्: Apposition/Deictic (निर्देश)
• Type: Noun
• Root: इदम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; निर्देशक (demonstrative)

• यस्मात्: from which; because of which
• यस्मात्: Apadana/Reason (अपादान/हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंस; पञ्चमी (5th/अपादान), एकवचन; सम्बन्धक (relative)

• तस्मात्: therefore; from that
• तस्मात्: Apadana/Conclusion marker (अपादान/तस्मात्)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंस; पञ्चमी, एकवचन; तदर्थ-सम्बन्ध (correlative)

• किम्: what?
• किम्: Predicate interrogative (प्रश्न)
• Type: Noun
• Root: किम् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; प्रश्नवाचक

• किम्: what indeed?
• किम्: Predicate interrogative
• Type: Noun
• Root: किम् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; पुनरुक्ति-प्रश्न (emphatic repetition)

• इदम्: this
• इदम्: Karma/Topic (विषय)
• Type: Noun
• Root: इदम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन

• वृथा: in vain; uselessly
• वृथा: Adverbial modifier (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वृथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; क्रियाविशेषण (adverb)

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Human striving is rightly ordered into the four puruṣārthas—dharma, artha, kāma, and mokṣa—so pursuits outside this framework are ultimately futile.

Vedantic Theme: Dharma

Application: Audit goals and habits: align daily choices with dharma and long-term mokṣa, letting artha and kāma be governed rather than idolized.

Vishishtadvaita: Mokṣa is a legitimate puruṣārtha and is pursued through rightly ordered life; in Viśiṣṭādvaita this culminates in surrender and service to the Supreme Person rather than impersonal dissolution.

Vaishnava Theology

Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman

Bhakti Type: shanta

FAQs

What is the significance of the four Purusharthas in the Vishnu Purana?

This verse frames human life as having four legitimate aims—dharma, artha, kāma, and mokṣa—implying that pursuits outside this framework are ultimately fruitless.

How does Sage Parāśara explain the right direction of human striving here?

Parāśara emphasizes that all striving should be intelligible within the four aims; chasing goals that do not support dharma, meaningful living, or liberation is described as “in vain.”

What is the theological importance of Lord Vishnu in this context?

Though Vishnu is not named in the verse, the Purana’s underlying stance is that mokṣa culminates in realizing the Supreme Reality—Vishnu—as the final ground and goal that gives the other aims their proper order.