Narada Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 42
गङ्गामाहात्म्य — The Greatness of the Gaṅgā
उपेक्षेत समर्थः सन्धर्मस्य परिपन्थिनः । स एव सर्वनाशाय हेतुभूतो न संशयः ॥ ४२ ॥
upekṣeta samarthaḥ sandharmasya paripanthinaḥ | sa eva sarvanāśāya hetubhūto na saṃśayaḥ || 42 ||
സമർത്ഥനായിട്ടും സദ്ധർമ്മത്തെ തടയുന്നവരെ അവഗണിക്കുന്നവൻ തന്നെയാണ് സംശയമില്ലാതെ സർവ്വനാശത്തിന് കാരണമാകുന്നത്।
Sanatkumara (teaching Narada)
Vrata: none
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: vira
FAQs
It teaches that spiritual life is not sustained by personal virtue alone; when one has the capacity to restrain forces that oppose dharma yet chooses indifference, that negligence itself becomes a karmic cause of widespread decline.
Bhakti in the Puranic sense includes protecting and upholding dharma as service to Bhagavan; this verse warns that passive tolerance of anti-dharmic conduct contradicts sincere devotional responsibility.
No specific Vedanga (like Vyakarana, Jyotisha, or Kalpa) is taught here; the takeaway is applied dharma-niti—knowing when capable action is required and that omission can produce grave consequences.