Shloka 23
आत्यन्तिक-लयहेतुः: तापत्रय-विवेचनम् तथा ‘भगवान्/वासुदेव’ शब्दार्थः
Threefold Suffering and the Path to Final Liberation; Meaning of Bhagavān and Vāsudeva
को ऽधर्मः कश् च वै धर्मः कस्मिन् वर्ते ऽथवा कथम् किं कर्तव्यम् अकर्तव्यं किं वा किं गुणदोषवत्
ko 'dharmaḥ kaś ca vai dharmaḥ kasmin varte 'thavā katham kiṃ kartavyam akartavyaṃ kiṃ vā kiṃ guṇadoṣavat
¿Qué es, en verdad, la injusticia y qué es la justicia? ¿En qué debe uno permanecer, o de qué modo vivir? ¿Qué debe hacerse y qué no debe hacerse, y qué ha de considerarse con mérito o con falta?
Maitreya (questioning Sage Parāśara)
FAQs
This verse frames the core Purāṇic ethical inquiry: how a person should live in alignment with the sustaining order (dharma) rather than actions that disrupt it (adharma).
Maitreya’s question sets up Parāśara’s forthcoming criteria-based teaching—right action is defined by alignment with dharma (duty, order, scriptural and situational propriety), while wrong action violates that order.
Even when the verse discusses ethics, the Vishnu Purana treats dharma as ultimately grounded in the Supreme Reality—Vishnu—whose cosmic sovereignty sustains the moral and social order.