Shloka 4

Gārhasthya-dharma: Vāsudeva–Pṛthivī-saṃvāda

Householder Duties and Daily Offerings

Devanagari script

वायुदेव उवाच गार्हस्थ्यं धर्ममाश्रित्य मया वा मद्दविधेन वा | किमवश्यं धरे कार्य कि वा कृत्वा कृतं भवेत्‌

Transliteration

vāyudeva uvāca | gārhasthyaṁ dharmam āśritya mayā vā madvidhena vā | kim avaśyaṁ dhare kāryaṁ kiṁ vā kṛtvā kṛtaṁ bhavet ||

Translation

Vāyudeva dit : « Ô déesse Terre, en prenant refuge dans le dharma du maître de maison—que ce soit par moi ou par un autre semblable à moi—quel devoir doit être accompli nécessairement ? Et en faisant quoi la vie du foyer devient-elle vraiment accomplie, comme si tout ce qui devait être fait l’avait été ? »

Word by Word

• {'vāyudevaḥ': 'the Wind-god (Vāyu), speaker', 'uvāca': 'said', 'gārhasthyam': 'the householder stage/order of life

• domestic life', 'dharmaḥ (dharmaṁ)': 'righteous duty

• moral/religious law', 'āśritya': 'having taken refuge in

• relying upon', 'mayā': 'by me', 'vā': 'or', 'madvidhena': 'by one like me

• of my kind', 'kim': 'what?', 'avaśyam': 'necessarily

• without fail', 'dhare': 'O bearer/supporter (vocative)

• an address to the Earth (Dharā)', 'kāryam': 'to be done

• obligatory act', 'kiṁ vā': 'or else what?', 'kṛtvā': 'having done', 'kṛtam': 'done

• accomplished', 'bhavet': 'would become

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• वायुदेव (Vāyudeva/Vāyu)
• धरा/वसुन्धरा (Dharā/Vasundharā, Earth-goddess)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames a dharma-inquiry: within the householder path, which actions are non-negotiable and which practice brings a sense of complete moral and spiritual fulfillment. It sets up guidance on essential obligations rather than optional virtues.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyudeva addresses Dharā (the Earth-goddess) and asks for instruction about gārhasthya-dharma—what a person living as a householder must do, and what single course of action (or set of actions) makes the householder’s life ‘accomplished’.