Narada Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 22
गङ्गामाहात्म्य — The Greatness of the Gaṅgā
धर्महीनो यथा जन्तुः कर्महीनो यथा गृही । पशुहीनो यथा वैश्यस्तथा पित्रा विनार्भकः ॥ २२ ॥
dharmahīno yathā jantuḥ karmahīno yathā gṛhī | paśuhīno yathā vaiśyastathā pitrā vinārbhakaḥ || 22 ||
जसा धर्महीन प्राणी निरर्थक, जसा कर्महीन गृहस्थ पोकळ, आणि जसा पशुहीन वैश्य उपजीविकाहीन—तसा पिता नसलेला बालक वंचित होतो।
Sanatkumara (teaching Narada)
Vrata: none
Primary Rasa: karuna
Secondary Rasa: shanta
FAQs
It stresses that dharma and ordained duty (karma) are not optional: without them, life becomes spiritually barren; similarly, the father is presented as a crucial support for a child’s stability, education, and dharmic formation.
By establishing dharma and right conduct as the ground on which higher practices stand; disciplined household duty and ethical order support steadiness of mind, which in the Narada Purana framework becomes conducive to sustained Vishnu-bhakti.
The verse points to karma (prescribed rites and duties) central to Kalpa (ritual procedure) and Dharmaśāstra-style conduct; it implies that a gṛhastha must follow regulated observances rather than living without dharmic structure.