Shloka 37
शरद्वर्णनं, योगोपमा, तथा गोवर्धन-यज्ञप्रवर्तनम्
मन्त्रयज्ञपरा विप्राः सीरयज्ञाश् च कर्षकाः गिरिगोयज्ञशीलाश् च वयम् अद्रिवनाश्रयाः
mantrayajñaparā viprāḥ sīrayajñāś ca karṣakāḥ girigoyajñaśīlāś ca vayam adrivanāśrayāḥ
The brāhmaṇas are devoted to yajña through sacred mantras; the farmers perform the ‘plough-yajña’ by their tilling; and we, dwelling in mountains and forests, are inclined to offerings for hills and cattle.
Likely forest/mountain-dwelling people being described within Parasara’s narration to Maitreya (Vishnu Purana dialogue frame: Parasara → Maitreya).
Avatara: Krishna
Purpose: To redirect the Vraja community from Indra-centered ritualism to dharma grounded in one’s svadharma and to protect them from ensuing divine wrath.
Leela: Dharma-upadesa
Dharma Restored: Svadharma-yajña aligned to station (varṇa) and habitat (āśraya), offered under the Supreme Lord’s order
Concept: Yajña takes forms appropriate to one’s role and environment, sustaining social and cosmic order under the Supreme.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Offer your work (profession, care of land/animals, study) as worship suited to your circumstances, without envy of others’ paths.
Vishishtadvaita: Diverse duties become meaningful when oriented to the one Lord who is the inner ruler of all stations and habitats.
Vishnu Form: Krishna
Bhakti Type: Shanta
FAQs
It broadens yajña beyond ritual fire-sacrifice: mantra-recitation, agriculture, and forest/herd-based living are all portrayed as duty-forms that uphold social and cosmic order.
By presenting distinct ‘yajñas’ for priests, cultivators, and forest-dwellers, the narrative implies that dharma adapts to one’s role and environment while still serving the same sustaining principle.
Even when Vishnu is not named in the line, the Purana’s framework treats such ordered duties as participation in the Lord’s sustaining power—Vishnu as the Supreme Reality who maintains harmony through dharmic action.