Shloka 15
Sukesha's Boon & Twelve Dharmas — Sukesha’s Boon, the Twelve Dharmas of Beings, and the Cosmography of the Seven Dvipas with the Twenty-One Hells
ऋषय ऊचुः देवानां परमो धर्मः सदा यज्ञादिकाः क्रियाः स्वाध्यायवेदवेत्तृत्वं विष्णुपूजारतिः स्मृता
ṛṣaya ūcuḥ devānāṃ paramo dharmaḥ sadā yajñādikāḥ kriyāḥ svādhyāyavedavettṛtvaṃ viṣṇupūjāratiḥ smṛtā
The Ṛṣis said: The supreme dharma of the gods is always the performance of acts beginning with sacrifice (yajña). (It also consists in) self-study and mastery/knowing of the Veda, and delight in the worship of Viṣṇu—so it is remembered.
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FAQs
Dharma is defined as a threefold discipline: (1) yajña and allied sacred duties (public/cosmic maintenance), (2) svādhyāya and Veda-knowledge (inner formation and right understanding), and (3) devotion expressed as worship of Viṣṇu (personal orientation of the heart). Together they integrate karma (rite), jñāna (learning), and bhakti (devotion).
This is dharma-śikṣā embedded within purāṇic discourse, functioning as normative guidance that often accompanies manvantara/vaṃśānucarita contexts (how gods, sages, and kings uphold order). It is not itself sarga/pratisarga, but it supports the purāṇa’s didactic layer.
The verse symbolically presents the devas’ stability as dependent on sacrificial reciprocity (yajña), revealed knowledge (Veda), and a personal theistic center (Viṣṇu-pūjā). Even where sectarian harmony is a broader purāṇic theme, here Viṣṇu is positioned as the focal deity for devotion while retaining Vedic orthopraxy as the framework.