Shloka 20
एवं बुध्यत बुध्यध्वं बुध्यतैवम् इतीरयन् मायामोहः स दैत्येयान् धर्मम् अत्याजयन् निजम्
evaṃ budhyata budhyadhvaṃ budhyataivam itīrayan māyāmohaḥ sa daityeyān dharmam atyājayan nijam
Repeating again and again, “Understand thus—reflect, all of you; grasp it in this very way,” Māyāmoha made the sons of Diti (the Daityas) abandon their own rightful dharma.
Sage Parāśara (narrating to Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: How Māyāmoha misleads the Daityas into abandoning svadharma through repeated exhortation and delusive framing
Teaching: Ethical
Quality: revealing
Concept: Delusion, by persuasive repetition and misdirection, can make communities relinquish their own dharma.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Be wary of rhetoric that demands assent without śāstra-based scrutiny; test teachings by their fruits—clarity, compassion, and dharma-sustaining conduct.
Vishishtadvaita: Implied contrast between māyā-born moha and true dharma grounded in the Lord’s order (niyati), aligning ethics with devotion to Vishnu.
Vishnu Form: Hari
FAQs
Māyāmoha represents delusion deployed to derail beings from their ordained dharma, showing how cosmic order can be disrupted not only by force but by misleading “understanding.”
Parāśara frames it as a psychological and doctrinal turning: Māyāmoha repeatedly urges a particular “way of understanding,” and by accepting it the Daityas abandon their own proper religious duty.
Even when not named in the verse, the episode implies Vishnu’s supreme governance: māyā operates under the Supreme Reality, guiding outcomes that re-establish dharma and the balance between devas and asuras.