Shloka 22
नरक-निर्णयः, पाप-कर्म-फल-व्यवस्था, प्रायश्चित्त-क्रमः, तथा हरि-स्मरण-परमत्वम्
रङ्गोपजीवी कैवर्तः कुण्डाशी गरदस् तथा सूची माहिषिकश् चैव पर्वगामी च यो द्विजः
raṅgopajīvī kaivartaḥ kuṇḍāśī garadas tathā sūcī māhiṣikaś caiva parvagāmī ca yo dvijaḥ
A twice-born who lives by stage entertainments, follows the fisherfolk’s calling, eats from a common cooking-pot, trades in poisons, lives by the needle, deals in buffalo, or wanders from hill to hill—such a one is censured by the measure of Dharma taught here.
Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Consequences of adharmic livelihoods and conduct; classification of censured twice-born occupations
Teaching: Ethical
Quality: authoritative
Concept: For a dvija, adopting degrading or harmful livelihoods is a breach of dharma and warrants censure.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Choose work that does not exploit, deceive, or harm beings, and align livelihood with integrity and restraint.
Vishishtadvaita: Dharma as service to the Lord’s order: ethical livelihood preserves the harmony of His embodied universe (jagat as His śarīra).
FAQs
The verse uses livelihood as a marker of dharma-compatibility for a dvija, warning that certain trades were traditionally seen as compromising ritual purity and social responsibility within varna-āśrama norms.
By enumerating censured behaviors and livelihoods, Parāśara frames dharma as disciplined living—where food sources, professions, and habits must support self-restraint and sacred duty rather than undermine it.
Even when the topic is social law, the Purana’s underlying premise is that dharma sustains the cosmic order governed by Vishnu; ethical livelihood becomes a practical way to live in harmony with that supreme sustaining reality.