Shloka 5

Pātra-Nirṇaya and Ritual Procedure: Who to Feed, Who to Avoid, and Step-by-Step Śrāddha Performance

Devanagari script

मित्रध्रुक् कुनखी क्लीबः श्यावदन्तस् तथा द्विजः कन्यादूषयिता वह्निवेदोज्झः सोमविक्रयी

Transliteration

mitradhruk kunakhī klībaḥ śyāvadantas tathā dvijaḥ kanyādūṣayitā vahnivedojjhaḥ somavikrayī

Translation

A betrayer of a friend, one with unclean nails, an impotent man, a twice-born whose teeth are darkened, the violator of a maiden, one who abandons the sacred fires and neglects Vedic study, and one who sells the Soma—such persons are counted among the fallen, estranged from the order of dharma.

Word by Word

• मित्रध्रुक्: betrayer of friends
• मित्रध्रुक्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मित्र (प्रातिपदिक) + ध्रुच्/ध्रुह् (प्रातिपदिक; √द्रुह् धातु से)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-एकवचन (Nominative singular, Masculine); उपपद-तत्पुरुष: 'friend-harming'

• कुनखी: one with deformed/bad nails
• कुनखी: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कु (उपसर्ग/प्रातिपदिक) + नखिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-एकवचन (Nominative singular, Masculine); 'bad-nailed'

• क्लीबः: impotent/eunuch
• क्लीबः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्लीब (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-एकवचन (Nominative singular, Masculine)

• श्यावदन्तः: one with darkened teeth
• श्यावदन्तः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: श्याव (प्रातिपदिक) + दन्त (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-एकवचन (Nominative singular, Masculine); बहुव्रीहि: 'having dark teeth'

• तथा: and also
• तथा: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय/अन्वय-अव्यय (conjunctive/adverbial indeclinable)

• द्विजः: a twice-born (Brahmin etc.)
• द्विजः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: द्विज (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-एकवचन (Nominative singular, Masculine)

• कन्यादूषयिता: defiler of a maiden
• कन्यादूषयिता: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कन्या (प्रातिपदिक) + दूषयितृ (कृदन्त; √दूष् धातु, णिच् + तृच्)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-एकवचन (Nominative singular, Masculine); उपपद-तत्पुरुष: 'one who corrupts a maiden'

• वह्निवेदोज्झः: one who has forsaken sacred fire and Vedic study
• वह्निवेदोज्झः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वह्नि (प्रातिपदिक) + वेद (प्रातिपदिक) + उज्झ (प्रातिपदिक; √हā/√त्यज् अर्थे 'to abandon' से निष्पन्न)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-एकवचन (Nominative singular, Masculine); समाहार-तत्पुरुष: 'one who has abandoned fire and Veda'

• सोमविक्रयी: seller of soma
• सोमविक्रयी: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सोम (प्रातिपदिक) + विक्रयिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-एकवचन (Nominative singular, Masculine); उपपद-तत्पुरुष: 'seller of soma'

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya in a dharma- and conduct-oriented section)

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Parasara

Topic: Disqualifications/impurities that make a person unfit in śrāddha context and markers of dharma-bhraṃśa

Teaching: Ethical

Quality: admonitory

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Certain betrayals, sexual violations, and sacramental/vedic neglect constitute dharma-bhraṃśa, disqualifying one from sacred participation and harming ritual efficacy.

Vedantic Theme: Dharma

Application: Treat trust, sexual ethics, and sacred commitments as non-negotiable; avoid commodifying or abandoning disciplines that sustain integrity (study, vows, responsibilities).

Vishishtadvaita: Moral purity is part of bhagavat-sambandha: conduct either aligns with or obstructs one’s role as a dependent mode (śeṣa) within the Lord’s order.

Vaishnava Theology

Vishnu Form: Hari

FAQs

What is the significance of abandoning the sacred fires and Vedic study in the Vishnu Purana?

It signals a collapse of daily dharmic discipline (agnihotra and svādhyāya), which the text treats as foundational supports of social and cosmic order.

How does Sage Parāśara explain moral decay through such lists of offenses?

By enumerating concrete transgressions—betrayal, sexual violation, ritual neglect, and profaning sacred substances—he shows how adharma spreads through conduct and erodes the community’s dharmic structure.

What is the theological importance of Lord Vishnu in this context?

Even in ethical catalogues, the Vishnu Purana frames dharma as part of the Lord’s sustaining power—violations are not merely social faults but disruptions of the order ultimately upheld by Vishnu.