Shloka 55
कलिस्वरूप-वर्णनम् एवं कालमान-प्रस्तावना
कस्य माता पिता कस्य यदा कर्मात्मकः पुमान् इति चोदाहरिष्यन्ति श्वशुरानुगता नराः
kasya mātā pitā kasya yadā karmātmakaḥ pumān iti codāhariṣyanti śvaśurānugatā narāḥ
When a man is nothing but the embodiment of his own karma, those who cling to worldly ties and in‑law relations will still keep repeating, again and again: “Whose is the mother, and whose the father?”
Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Kali-yuga moral discourse and karmic selfhood
Teaching: Philosophical
Quality: revealing
Concept: When persons are viewed through karmic conditioning, worldly claims of ‘mine’ (mother/father/kin) become unstable and contested, revealing attachment’s fragility.
Vedantic Theme: Atman
Application: Reflect on karma and impermanence to reduce possessiveness; strengthen dhārmic duties without clinging, and orient identity toward being Bhagavān’s śeṣa (dependent).
Vishishtadvaita: The jīva is karma-conditioned yet essentially a real mode (prakāra) of Brahman; true identity is dependence on Nārāyaṇa beyond shifting social labels.
Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman
FAQs
It highlights the Purāṇa’s teaching that embodied identity is governed by karma, while social labels like parentage are secondary and often misleading.
He frames the person as “karmātmaka”—shaped by past actions—so one’s destiny and condition arise from karmic causality rather than mere family affiliation.
By stressing karma’s governance within cosmic order, the text implicitly points to Vishnu as the supreme regulator of dharma and the universe in which karmic results unfold.