Shloka 38
Vidyā–Avidyā and the Twenty-Fifth Principle
Sāṃkhya–Yoga Clarification
सर्वात्मनानुकुर्वीत गृहस्थ: कर्मनिश्चयम् । दाक्ष्येण हव्यकव्यार्थ स्वधर्मे विचरन् नृप
sarvātmanānukurvīta gṛhasthaḥ karmaniścayam | dākṣyeṇa havyakavyārtha svadharme vicaran nṛpa naraśvara |
पराशर बोले—नरेश्वर! गृहस्थ को चाहिए कि वह सम्पूर्ण मन से अपने कर्तव्य का दृढ़ निश्चय करे। अपने स्वधर्म में स्थित रहकर कुशलतापूर्वक देव-कार्य और पितृ-कार्य—यज्ञ तथा श्राद्ध आदि—का अनुष्ठान करे।
पराशर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that a householder must wholeheartedly commit to his prescribed duties and perform them with competence—especially the obligations toward gods (yajña/havya) and ancestors (śrāddha/kavya)—as an essential expression of svadharma.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma, the sage Parāśara addresses a king, advising him on the proper conduct of the householder stage: firm resolve in duty and skillful performance of sacrificial and ancestral rites.