Shloka 36
भरतचरितम्—मृगासक्ति-हेतुकः समाधिभङ्गः, जातिस्मरत्वं, रहूगण-जाḍभरत-संवादः
तत्र चोत्सृष्टदेहो ऽसौ जज्ञे जातिस्मरो द्विजः सदाचारवतां शुद्धे योगिनां प्रवरे कुले
tatra cotsṛṣṭadeho 'sau jajñe jātismaro dvijaḥ sadācāravatāṃ śuddhe yogināṃ pravare kule
There, casting off his former body, he was born again as a twice-born Brahmin who remembered past births, in a pure and eminent family of yogins renowned for spotless conduct.
Sage Parāśara (narrating to Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: How karmic consequence leads to rebirth and how purification culminates in higher birth and remembrance
Teaching: Ethical
Quality: revealing
Concept: By exhausting demerit and cultivating purity, the jīva attains an elevating rebirth, sometimes with jāti-smaraṇa (memory of past births).
Vedantic Theme: Atman
Application: Cultivate ethical living and steady practice; regard circumstances and family culture as supports for sādhana rather than mere social identity.
Vishishtadvaita: The enduring jīva persists across bodies (real continuity), and purity in conduct becomes a means toward realizing the Self under Īśvara’s governance.
Bhakti Type: Shanta
FAQs
This verse presents jātismaratva as a karmic and yogic result—an exceptional continuity of awareness across rebirth—arising when a purified being takes birth in a sāttvic, disciplined environment.
By linking rebirth into a foremost yogic family with “sadācāra” and “śuddhi,” Parāśara frames ethical discipline as a concrete force that shapes the next embodiment and supports higher spiritual memory and aptitude.
Even when Vishnu is not named in the verse, the Purana’s theology assumes Vishnu as the supreme ground of cosmic order—through whom karmic law, rebirth, and the elevation of souls into purer lineages are ultimately governed.