Shloka 15

मानवसर्गः, चातुर्वर्ण्य-गुणकर्म, यज्ञ-प्रतिपादनम्, आश्रमधर्म-फल, नरकवर्णनम्

Devanagari script

अधर्मबीजम् उद्भूतं तमोलोभसमुद्भवम् प्रजासु तासु मैत्रेय रागादिकम् असाधकम्

Transliteration

adharmabījam udbhūtaṃ tamolobhasamudbhavam prajāsu tāsu maitreya rāgādikam asādhakam

Translation

O Maitreya, among those people there springs up the very seed of adharma, born of darkness and greed; it stirs passion and the like, making them unfit for righteous and worthy deeds.

Word by Word

• अधर्मबीजम्: seed of unrighteousness
• अधर्मबीजम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अधर्म (प्रातिपदिक) + बीज (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (अधर्मस्य बीजम्)

• उद्भूतम्: arisen, sprung up
• उद्भूतम्: Visheshana (Adjectival/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: उद्-भू (धातु) → उद्भूत (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; विशेषणम्

• तमोलोभसमुद्भवम्: born of darkness and greed
• तमोलोभसमुद्भवम्: Visheshana (Adjectival/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तमस् (प्रातिपदिक) + लोभ (प्रातिपदिक) + सम्-उद्-भू (धातु) → समुद्भव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; पञ्चमी-तत्पुरुषः (तमोलोभाभ्यां समुद्भवम् = from darkness and greed arisen)

• प्रजासु: among the creatures/people
• प्रजासु: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रजा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7), बहुवचन

• तासु: among those
• तासु: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7), बहुवचन; सर्वनाम

• मैत्रेय: O Maitreya
• मैत्रेय: Sambodhana (Vocative/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मैत्रेय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8), एकवचन

• रागादिकम्: passion and the like
• रागादिकम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: राग (प्रातिपदिक) + आदि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः (रागः आदिः यस्य तत्)

• असाधकम्: not accomplishing (good), ineffective
• असाधकम्: Visheshana (Adjectival/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अ- (उपसर्ग/निषेध) + साधक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; विशेषणम्

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (addressing Maitreya)

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Parasara

Topic: Degeneration of beings after creation: how adharma arises among prajās

Teaching: Ethical

Quality: authoritative

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Adharma originates from tamas and lobha, manifesting as rāga and allied vices that obstruct sādhutā (fitness for the good).

Vedantic Theme: Dharma

Application: Cultivate vigilance over greed and inertia; adopt daily disciplines (niyama, charity, restraint) that counter rāga-driven choices.

Vishishtadvaita: Moral order (dharma) is meaningful because souls are real agents under the Lord’s governance, and their dispositions can turn toward or away from Him.

Characters & Entities

• Maitreya
• Prajā (the people/subjects)

FAQs

What is the significance of the “seed of adharma” in the Vishnu Purana?

This verse frames adharma as something that germinates within society from tamas (ignorance) and lobha (greed), explaining Kali Yuga’s decline as an inner moral-spiritual corrosion rather than merely external misfortune.

How does Sage Parāśara explain the rise of vice in Kali Yuga here?

Parāśara links the rise of wrongdoing to tamas and greed, which then manifest as raga and allied impulses, making people “asādhaka”—unable to pursue or accomplish dharmic aims.

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

By diagnosing Kali’s disorder as a fall from dharma, the text implicitly points to Vishnu as the sustaining Supreme Reality whose order (dharma) upholds the world, and whose refuge restores alignment when society is overrun by tamas-driven impulses.