Shloka 25

Devanagari script

पुत्रद्रव्यकलत्रेषु त्यक्तस्नेहो नराधिप चतुर्थम् आश्रमस्थानं गच्छेन् निर्धूतमत्सरः

Transliteration

putradravyakalatreṣu tyaktasneho narādhipa caturtham āśramasthānaṃ gacchen nirdhūtamatsaraḥ

Translation

O king, when a man has cast off attachment to sons, wealth, and spouse, and has shaken envy from his heart, he should proceed to the fourth āśrama—the sannyāsa, the final station of peace.

Word by Word

• पुत्र: sons
• पुत्र: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुत्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), बहुवचन; समासाङ्ग (समुच्चयार्थे)

• द्रव्य: wealth
• द्रव्य: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: द्रव्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), बहुवचन; समासाङ्ग

• कलत्रेषु: in wives (and family ties)
• कलत्रेषु: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कलत्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), बहुवचन; पूर्वपदानि: पुत्र-द्रव्य- (समाहारद्वन्द्व/समुच्चय)

• त्यक्तस्नेहः: having abandoned attachment
• त्यक्तस्नेहः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: त्यक्त (√त्यज् धातु, क्त-कृदन्त) + स्नेह (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त ‘त्यक्त’ + ‘स्नेह’ (उपपद-तत्पुरुषः)

• नराधिप: O king
• नराधिप: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नराधिप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (Vocative/सम्बोधन), एकवचन; नर + अधिप (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष)

• चतुर्थम्: the fourth
• चतुर्थम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चतुर्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; क्रमवाचक विशेषण

• आश्रमस्थानम्: the place/state of the āśrama
• आश्रमस्थानम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: आश्रम (प्रातिपदिक) + स्थान (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; आश्रमस्य स्थानम् (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष)

• गच्छेत्: should go
• गच्छेत्: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √गम् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative/विधिलिङ्), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• निर्धूतमत्सरः: with envy shaken off
• निर्धूतमत्सरः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: निर्धूत (√धू धातु, क्त-कृदन्त; उपसर्ग: निर्) + मत्सर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; मत्सरः निर्धूतः यस्य (कर्मधारय/तत्पुरुष-समासभावः)

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (in instruction to Maitreya; framed here as an address to a king, i.e., a rājadharma-style exhortation)

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Parasara

Topic: Duties and discipline leading to the fourth āśrama (saṃnyāsa) and inner purification

Teaching: Ethical

Quality: authoritative

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: When attachment to family, wealth, and spouse is relinquished and envy is removed, one becomes fit to enter the fourth āśrama oriented to the Supreme.

Vedantic Theme: Dharma

Application: Practice deliberate non-possessiveness and envy-reduction (gratitude, self-audit, simplicity) before major life-renunciation or deep contemplative commitments.

Vishishtadvaita: Renunciation is not nihilism but reorientation of the self toward the Supreme Person as the final refuge and goal.

Vaishnava Theology

Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman

Bhakti Type: Shanta

Characters & Entities

• King (narādhipa)
• Sannyāsa (fourth āśrama)

FAQs

What is the significance of the fourth āśrama in the Vishnu Purana?

This verse presents sannyāsa as the culminating life-stage, entered only after relinquishing possessive attachment and inner rivalry, so the seeker can orient life toward liberation and the Supreme (Vishnu).

How does Sage Parāśara explain the qualification for renunciation here?

Parāśara emphasizes inner readiness: not merely leaving the household externally, but abandoning attachment to family and wealth and becoming free from matsara (envy), indicating mental purification.

What is the theological importance of Lord Vishnu in this context?

Even when Vishnu is not named directly, the renunciant ideal is ultimately Vishnu-centered: purification and detachment are portrayed as prerequisites for turning the self toward the Supreme Reality who grants moksha.