Shloka 70
पाषण्डिनं समाभाष्य तीर्थस्नानाद् अनन्तरम् प्राप्तो ऽसि कुत्सितां योनिं किं न स्मरसि तत् प्रभो
pāṣaṇḍinaṃ samābhāṣya tīrthasnānād anantaram prāpto 'si kutsitāṃ yoniṃ kiṃ na smarasi tat prabho
After bathing at the sacred ford, you conversed with a heretic; and immediately thereafter you fell into a degraded womb. O lord, do you not remember that?
A reproaching voice/accuser within the narrative (reported by Sage Parāśara to Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: The spiritual danger of pāṣaṇḍa-saṅga (association with heretics) even after tīrtha acts
Teaching: Ethical
Quality: authoritative
Concept: Ritual purity (like tīrtha-bathing) is undermined by wrong company and wrong speech; saṅga can outweigh external acts.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Pair spiritual practices with discernment in communities and teachings; avoid cynical or anti-dharmic influences after sādhanā.
Vishishtadvaita: External rites have value when aligned with right intention and right association under the Lord’s dharma-order; ethics and devotion complete ritual.
Vishnu Form: Hari (name)
Bhakti Type: Shanta (peaceful)
FAQs
This verse implies that ritual purification is not merely physical; its merit can be undermined when one immediately engages in harmful association or discourse that contradicts dharma.
In the dialogue framework, Parāśara presents conduct and company as karmically potent—contact with pāṣaṇḍa right after a sacred act is depicted as triggering a rapid fall into an inferior rebirth.
Even when the verse focuses on moral causality, its underlying Purāṇic view is that dharma and karmic order operate within Vishnu’s supreme governance, making right conduct integral to spiritual progress.