Shloka 42

Devanagari script

ये कामक्रोधलोभानां वीतरागा न गोचरे सदाचारस्थितास् तेषाम् अनुभावैर् धृता मही

Transliteration

ye kāmakrodhalobhānāṃ vītarāgā na gocare sadācārasthitās teṣām anubhāvair dhṛtā mahī

Translation

Those beyond the reach of desire, anger, and greed—free from attachment and established in right conduct—by the power of their spiritual presence, the Earth itself is upheld.

Word by Word

• ये: those who
• ये: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), बहुवचन; सम्बन्धक-सर्वनाम (relative)

• काम-क्रोध-लोभानाम्: of desire, anger, and greed
• काम-क्रोध-लोभानाम्: Sambandha (Possessor/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: काम (प्रातिपदिक) + क्रोध (प्रातिपदिक) + लोभ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), बहुवचन; समासः—द्वन्द्वः (कामश्च क्रोधश्च लोभश्च); सम्बन्ध (genitive)

• वीत-रागाः: free from attachment
• वीत-रागाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वीत (प्रातिपदिक; √वा/वी ‘to go away’ से निष्पन्न) + राग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (वीतः रागः येषाम्); विशेषणम्

• न: not
• न: Sambandha/Particle (निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध-निपात (negative particle)

• गोचरे: in the range/domain
• गोचरे: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गोचर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन; अधिकरणे; ‘गोचर’ = sphere/range

• सदाचार-स्थिताः: established in good conduct
• सदाचार-स्थिताः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सदाचार (प्रातिपदिक) + स्थित (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; √स्था)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (सदाचारे स्थिताः); क्त (PPP)

• तेषाम्: of them
• तेषाम्: Sambandha (Possessor/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), बहुवचन; सम्बन्ध

• अनुभावैः: by (their) power/influence
• अनुभावैः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अनुभाव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/तृतीया), बहुवचन; करण (instrument)

• धृता: is upheld/sustained
• धृता: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: धृ (धातु) → धृत (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: क्त (PPP/क्त), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; कर्मणि प्रयोगः—‘मही’ इति कर्तृस्थानीया (grammatical subject)

• मही: the earth
• मही: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मही (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; कर्तृ/विषय

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Parasara

Topic: Marks of the virtuous: freedom from kāma-krodha-lobha and the sustaining power of sadācāra

Teaching: Ethical

Quality: authoritative

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Those established in right conduct and beyond desire, anger, and greed exert a sustaining spiritual potency that supports the world-order.

Vedantic Theme: Dharma

Application: Practice restraint (indriya-nigraha), reduce reactive anger, and adopt consistent ethical vows; personal integrity becomes social stability.

Vishishtadvaita: Dharma is not merely social; it is participation in the Lord’s cosmic order, where sādhus become instruments through whom Nārāyaṇa’s sustaining power is mediated.

Vaishnava Theology

Vishnu Form: Narayana

Bhakti Type: Shanta

Characters & Entities

• Earth (Mahī/Bhūmi)
• Sages (dharmic, passionless ascetics)

FAQs

What is the significance of freedom from kāma, krodha, and lobha in the Vishnu Purana?

This verse presents desire, anger, and greed as forces that destabilize order; liberation from them makes a person a stabilizing pillar of dharma, indirectly sustaining the world.

How does Sage Parāśara explain the Earth being ‘upheld’?

Parāśara frames the Earth’s stability not only as physical but as moral-cosmic: the anubhāva (spiritual force) of those established in sadācāra supports the world’s equilibrium.

The theological importance of Lord Vishnu in this context?

Even when not named, the Purana’s logic is Vaishnava: dharma operates under Vishnu’s supreme sovereignty, and the saintly who embody restraint become instruments of that sustaining power.