Shloka 31
मानससृष्टिः, रुद्रोत्पत्तिः, मन्वादिवंशः, प्रलयचतुष्टयम्
दुःखोत्तराः स्मृता ह्य् एते सर्वे चाधर्मलक्षणाः नैषां भार्यास्ति पुत्रो वा ते सर्वे ह्य् ऊर्ध्वरेतसः
duḥkhottarāḥ smṛtā hy ete sarve cādharmalakṣaṇāḥ naiṣāṃ bhāryāsti putro vā te sarve hy ūrdhvaretasaḥ
All these are remembered as ending in sorrow, for they are marked by adharma. They have neither wife nor offspring; indeed, they are all ūrdhva-retas—generative power turned upward, barren of worldly lineage.
Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Characterization of adharma-marked forces as sorrow-ending and non-procreative (ūrdhva-retas)
Teaching: Ethical
Quality: authoritative
Concept: Adharma-marked tendencies culminate in sorrow and are ‘sterile’—they cannot generate auspicious continuity or true flourishing.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Observe which habits lead inevitably to duḥkha; cut them at the root and redirect energy upward toward sādhana (japa, sat-saṅga, service).
Vishishtadvaita: ‘Upward turning’ finds its proper fulfillment when directed to the Lord (śeṣatva): the jīva’s energies become fruitful only in service to Nārāyaṇa.
FAQs
It frames adharma as a path whose inevitable “result” is sorrow—highlighting karmic moral causality rather than mere social disapproval.
He characterizes the unrighteous as those whose life-outcomes are pain-filled and whose worldly continuity (wife and offspring) is absent—symbolizing a breakdown of dharmic household order.
Even when Vishnu is not named, the teaching assumes a Vishnu-governed moral cosmos: dharma aligns with the sustaining order of the Supreme, while adharma leads to dissolution and suffering.