Shloka 75

मायामोह-प्रवर्तन, वेदमार्ग-बहिष्कार, तथा पाषण्ड-संसर्ग-दोषः

Māyāmoha’s Delusion, Rejection of the Vedic Path, and the Fault of Heretical Association

Devanagari script

अपि स्मरसि राजेन्द्र श्वयोनिस्थस्य यन् मया प्रोक्तं ते पूर्वचरितं पाषण्डालापसंश्रयम्

Transliteration

api smarasi rājendra śvayonisthasya yan mayā proktaṃ te pūrvacaritaṃ pāṣaṇḍālāpasaṃśrayam

Translation

O best of kings, do you remember what I once told you—when you were in the śva-yoni—about your former life and conduct, and how you became entangled in the talk and influence of the pāṣaṇḍas?

Word by Word

• अपि: indeed/also
• अपि: Sambandha/Discourse particle
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle); प्रश्न/अनुस्मरणे (even/also; in question)

• स्मरसि: do you remember
• स्मरसि: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्मृ (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), मध्यमपुरुष (2nd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• राजेन्द्र: O king of kings
• राजेन्द्र: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन् + इन्द्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कर्मधारय/तत्पुरुष (राज्ञाम् इन्द्रः); पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (Vocative), एकवचन

• श्वयोनिस्थस्य: of (one) situated in a dog-womb (dog birth)
• श्वयोनिस्थस्य: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: श्व + योनि + स्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सप्तमी-तत्पुरुष (locative tatpurusha): श्वयोनौ स्थितः; पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन; (ते) इति संबन्धे

• यत्: which/what
• यत्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; सम्बन्धसूचक (relative pronoun)

• मया: by me
• मया: Kartr-karana (कर्ता/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: उत्तमपुरुष-सर्वनाम; तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन

• प्रोक्तम्: said/told
• प्रोक्तम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्र-वच् (धातु) + क्त (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (past passive participle, क्त); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; यत् इति विशेषण

• ते: to you/your
• ते: Sampradana/Sambandha (सम्प्रदान/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• पूर्वचरितम्: former conduct/previous story
• पूर्वचरितम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पूर्व + चरित (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कर्मधारय/तत्पुरुष: पूर्वं चरितम्; नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• पाषण्डालापसंश्रयम्: having recourse to heretical talk
• पाषण्डालापसंश्रयम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पाषण्ड + आलाप + संश्रय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष (determinative): पाषण्डानाम् आलापः तस्य संश्रयः/आश्रयः; नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; पूर्वचरितम् इति विशेषण

Speaker

Unspecified royal/teacher figure addressing a king (within Parāśara’s narration to Maitreya)

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Parasara

Teaching: Ethical

Quality: revealing

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Wrong association and misleading doctrines (pāṣaṇḍa-vāda) obscure dharma; recollection and right teaching redirect the soul toward Hari.

Vedantic Theme: Dharma

Application: Choose teachers and communities carefully; test ideas by their ethical fruits and their capacity to deepen devotion, humility, and compassion.

Vishishtadvaita: The jīva’s knowledge can be contracted by karma and saṅga; grace through true instruction restores orientation toward the Lord without denying the reality of the world and moral causality.

Vaishnava Theology

Vishnu Form: Hari

Bhakti Type: shanta

Characters & Entities

• A king (rājendra)
• Pāṣaṇḍas (heterodox sectarians)

FAQs

What is the significance of pāṣaṇḍa discourse in the Vishnu Purana?

Here it functions as a warning to rulers: association with heterodox disputation can divert a king from dharma and destabilize right governance.

How does Sage Parāśara frame memory and prior conduct in this narrative?

The verse treats a king’s present situation as rooted in earlier conduct (pūrvacarita), implying karmic continuity and the need for corrective remembrance and instruction.

The theological importance of Lord Vishnu in this context?

Even when Vishnu is not named, the Purāṇa’s worldview assumes dharma and rightful sovereignty ultimately rest on alignment with Vishnu’s cosmic order; deviation into misleading doctrines is portrayed as a fall from that alignment.