Matsya Purana — Devayānī–Śarmiṣṭhā Dialogue: Yayāti’s Transgression, Shloka 28
*देवयान्युवाच अधर्मेण जितो धर्मः प्रवृत्तमधरोत्तरम् शर्मिष्ठा यातिवृत्तास्ति दुहिता वृषपर्वणः //
*devayānyuvāca adharmeṇa jito dharmaḥ pravṛttamadharottaram śarmiṣṭhā yātivṛttāsti duhitā vṛṣaparvaṇaḥ //
Devayānī dit : «Par l’adharma, le dharma a été vaincu ; l’ordre du supérieur et de l’inférieur s’est renversé. Śarmiṣṭhā—fille de Vṛṣaparvan—a franchi les bornes avec Yayāti (elle s’est conduite de façon indue envers lui).»
FAQs
This verse is not about Pralaya; it focuses on ethical disorder (adharma overpowering dharma) within the Yayāti narrative, illustrating moral inversion rather than cosmic dissolution.
It frames improper sexual or marital conduct as a form of adharma that overturns social and moral order—an implicit warning that rulers and householders must uphold restraint, fidelity, and rightful relationships to preserve dharma.
No Vāstu, temple-building, or ritual procedure is specified in this verse; its significance is ethical and genealogical, setting up consequences in the Yayāti episode.