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 |
ಪರಾಶರನು ಹೇಳಿದನು—ನರೇಶ್ವರನೇ! ಗೃಹಸ್ಥನು ಸಂಪೂರ್ಣ ಆತ್ಮದಿಂದ ತನ್ನ ಕರ್ತವ್ಯದ ಮೇಲೆ ದೃಢ ನಿಶ್ಚಯ ಮಾಡಬೇಕು. ಸ್ವಧರ್ಮದಲ್ಲಿ ನಡೆಯುತ್ತಾ, ದಕ್ಷತೆಯಿಂದ ದೇವಕಾರ್ಯ ಮತ್ತು ಪಿತೃಕಾರ್ಯ—ಯಜ್ಞ, ಶ್ರಾದ್ಧಾದಿ—ಕರ್ಮಗಳನ್ನು ಆಚರಿಸಬೇಕು।
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.