Shloka 28
अभिषिच्य सुतं वीरं भरतं पृथिवीपतिः तपसे स महाभागः पुलहस्याश्रमं ययौ
abhiṣicya sutaṃ vīraṃ bharataṃ pṛthivīpatiḥ tapase sa mahābhāgaḥ pulahasyāśramaṃ yayau
Having consecrated his heroic son Bharata as ruler, the lord of the earth—great-souled and most fortunate—departed for austerities, going to the hermitage of the sage Pulaha.
Sage Parāśara (narrating) to Maitreya
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Transition from kingship to renunciation: installing Bharata and going to Pulaha’s āśrama
Teaching: Ethical
Quality: compassionate
Concept: Having fulfilled worldly duty through proper succession, one may turn decisively toward tapas in a sacred āśrama, integrating pravṛtti and nivṛtti.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Complete responsibilities conscientiously, then simplify life and allocate sustained time for contemplation, study, and disciplined practice.
Vishishtadvaita: Affirms āśrama-dharma as a real, ordered path where renunciation is not world-negation but a reorientation of life toward the Supreme.
Dharma Exemplar: Vairāgya expressed through renunciation after installing a worthy successor
Key Kings: Bharata
Bhakti Type: Shanta
FAQs
It marks lawful transfer of sovereignty—preserving dynastic order—so the king can pursue tapas without destabilizing dharma in the realm.
Through the narrative ideal that a ruler first secures righteous succession, then turns inward toward austerity, showing that governance and renunciation can be sequential duties.
Even in a lineage-focused verse, the Purana frames righteous kingship and renunciation as operating within Vishnu’s sustaining order—dharma upheld under the Supreme Preserver.