Shloka 25
पुंसां क्रिया-विभागः, संस्काराः, नामकरणम्, विवाहविधानम्
एतेषां यस्य यो धर्मो वर्णस्योक्तो महर्षिभिः कुर्वीत दाराहरणं तेनान्यं परिवर्जयेत्
eteṣāṃ yasya yo dharmo varṇasyokto maharṣibhiḥ kurvīta dārāharaṇaṃ tenānyaṃ parivarjayet
For each of these, the great seers have declared the duty proper to one’s own varṇa. Let a man follow that alone; and if he seizes another’s wife, he must be rejected by all and kept at a distance.
Sage Parāśara (in instruction to Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Varṇa-specific dharma and the grave social-ethical breach of dārāharaṇa (taking another’s wife)
Teaching: Ethical
Quality: stern and authoritative
Concept: One should adhere to one’s prescribed dharma, and the violation of marital integrity is a condemnable adharma warranting social exclusion.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Uphold consent and fidelity; build communities that protect vulnerable relationships through clear norms and accountability.
Vishishtadvaita: Adharma is opposition to the Lord’s moral order; protecting marital dharma is a form of protecting the jīva, who belongs to God.
Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman
FAQs
This verse frames varṇa-dharma as a seer-sanctioned structure for social harmony: one should perform the duties assigned to one’s station and avoid actions that destabilize households and community order.
Parāśara presents discipline as adherence to prescribed duties and clear communal consequences for grave violations—here, the social shunning of one who violates marital sanctity.
Although Vishnu is not named in the verse, the Purana’s dharma-teaching rests on Vishnu as the supreme ground of cosmic order; protecting household and ethical law is portrayed as aligning society with that higher, sustaining reality.