Shloka 38
मायामोह-प्रवर्तन, वेदमार्ग-बहिष्कार, तथा पाषण्ड-संसर्ग-दोषः
Māyāmoha’s Delusion, Rejection of the Vedic Path, and the Fault of Heretical Association
यस् तु संत्यज्य गार्हस्थ्यं वानप्रस्थो न जायते परिव्राड् वापि मैत्रेय स नग्नः पापकृन् नरः
yas tu saṃtyajya gārhasthyaṃ vānaprastho na jāyate parivrāḍ vāpi maitreya sa nagnaḥ pāpakṛn naraḥ
He who abandons the householder’s station yet does not enter the discipline of the forest-dweller, but instead—O Maitreya—becomes a wandering renunciant, is a man ‘naked’ of dharma and a doer of sin.
Sage Parāśara (in instruction to Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Proper observance of āśrama-dharma and the fault of premature/irregular renunciation
Teaching: Ethical
Quality: authoritative
Concept: Renunciation that abandons the householder stage without entering the disciplined vānaprastha is adharma and becomes sinful.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Adopt life-transitions with preparation and accountability—do not use ‘spirituality’ to evade duties to family, society, and one’s own sādhanā.
Vishishtadvaita: Dharma is service to Bhagavān’s order (niyati); abandoning one’s ordained role disrupts the body-of-God (jagat) harmony.
FAQs
This verse stresses that renunciation is not merely a change of dress or status; it must arise from the disciplined progression of dharma, preserving both personal purity and social order.
By calling such a renunciant “naked,” Parāśara implies a lack of the preparatory austerity and inner ripening that vānaprastha provides before true wandering renunciation.
Even when Vishnu is not named, the teaching assumes dharma as Vishnu’s cosmic ordinance: right conduct and right renunciation are ways of aligning life with the Supreme Order sustained by Vishnu.