Shloka 36
मायामोह-प्रवर्तन, वेदमार्ग-बहिष्कार, तथा पाषण्ड-संसर्ग-दोषः
Māyāmoha’s Delusion, Rejection of the Vedic Path, and the Fault of Heretical Association
ततो मैत्रेय तन्मार्गवर्तिनो ये ऽभवञ् जनाः नग्नास् ते तैर् यतस् त्यक्तं त्रयीसंवरणं वृथा
tato maitreya tanmārgavartino ye 'bhavañ janāḥ nagnās te tair yatas tyaktaṃ trayīsaṃvaraṇaṃ vṛthā
Then, O Maitreya, those people who took to that path became unclad; for, having abandoned the covering ordained by the Three Vedas, their outward restraint was cast away in vain.
Sage Parāśara (addressing Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Teaching: Ethical
Quality: authoritative
Concept: Casting off the Vedic ‘covering’ of restraint and discipline in the name of a path leads to hollow, futile renunciation.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Distinguish genuine inner detachment from performative rejection of norms; let renunciation be grounded in discernment and responsibility.
Vishishtadvaita: Outer discipline is meaningful when it expresses inner alignment to the Lord’s order; rejecting it without realization is ‘vṛthā’ (fruitless).
FAQs
Here it implies the Veda-sanctioned discipline and modest restraint (symbolized even by proper covering), which the text says was abandoned when people followed a misguided path.
He frames it as an external act (going unclad) that results from rejecting Vedic guidance—presented as a futile abandonment of true restraint rather than genuine spiritual attainment.
Even when describing social and doctrinal decline, the Purana’s underlying Vaishnava stance is that dharma ultimately rests on the divine order upheld by Vishnu; abandoning that order is portrayed as spiritually unproductive.