Shloka 37
मायामोह-प्रवर्तन, वेदमार्ग-बहिष्कार, तथा पाषण्ड-संसर्ग-दोषः
Māyāmoha’s Delusion, Rejection of the Vedic Path, and the Fault of Heretical Association
ब्रह्मचारी गृहस्थश् च वानप्रस्थस् तथाश्रमाः परिव्राड् वा चतुर्थो ऽत्र पञ्चमो नोपपद्यते
brahmacārī gṛhasthaś ca vānaprasthas tathāśramāḥ parivrāḍ vā caturtho 'tra pañcamo nopapadyate
Āśrama ialah: brahmacārin, gṛhastha dan vānaprastha; dan di sini parivrājaka (sannyāsin) ialah yang keempat. Tahap kelima tidak wajar dalam susunan ini.
Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)
FAQs
This verse affirms that dharma is structured into four life-stages—student, householder, forest-retiree, and renunciant—forming a complete spiritual-social framework without adding a “fifth” alternative.
Parāśara lists the ashramas as an authoritative sequence and concludes that the system is exhaustive: the renunciant is the fourth, and no additional ashrama is doctrinally valid within this dharmic scheme.
By grounding social and spiritual discipline in a fixed dharmic order, the Purana implies a cosmos governed by divine law—ultimately upheld by Vishnu as the supreme regulator of order and the goal of liberation.