Shloka 12

विष्ण्वाराधन-फलम् तथा वर्णधर्माः

Worship of Vishnu through Varṇa-dharma

Devanagari script

ब्राह्मणः क्षत्रियो वैश्यः शूद्रश् च पृथिवीपते स्वधर्मतत्परो विष्णुम् आराधयति नान्यथा

Transliteration

brāhmaṇaḥ kṣatriyo vaiśyaḥ śūdraś ca pṛthivīpate svadharmatatparo viṣṇum ārādhayati nānyathā

Translation

အို မြေကြီး၏ အရှင်၊ ဗြာဟ္မဏ၊ က္ଷတ္တရိယ၊ ဝိုင်ရှျ၊ သုဒ္ဒရ—မည်သူမဆို မိမိ၏ စွဝဓမ္မ (svadharma) ကို တစိုက်မတ်မတ် လိုက်နာခြင်းဖြင့်သာ ဗိෂ္ဏုကို အမှန်တကယ် အာရాధနာ ပြုနိုင်သည်; အခြားနည်းလမ်း မရှိ။

Word by Word

• brāhmaṇaḥ: a Brahmin
• brāhmaṇaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: brāhmaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्गः; प्रथमा एकवचनम्

• kṣatriyaḥ: a Kshatriya
• kṣatriyaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṣatriya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्गः; प्रथमा एकवचनम्

• vaiśyaḥ: a Vaishya
• vaiśyaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vaiśya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्गः; प्रथमा एकवचनम्

• śūdraḥ: a Shudra
• śūdraḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śūdra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्गः; प्रथमा एकवचनम्

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्ययम्; समुच्चयार्थकः (conjunction)

• pṛthivīpate: O lord of the earth (king)
• pṛthivīpate: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pṛthivī + pati (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्गः; सम्बोधन एकवचनम्; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (pṛthivyāḥ patiḥ)

• svadharma-tatparaḥ: devoted to his own duty
• svadharma-tatparaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sva + dharma + tatpara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्गः; प्रथमा एकवचनम्; विशेषणम्; तत्पुरुषः (svadharme tatparaḥ)

• viṣṇum: Vishnu
• viṣṇum: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: viṣṇu (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्गः; द्वितीया एकवचनम्

• ārādhayati: worships
• ārādhayati: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ā-√rādh (धातु)
• Form: लट् (वर्तमानकालः); परस्मैपदम्; प्रथमपुरुषः; एकवचनम्

• na: not
• na: Pratiṣedha (Negation/निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्ययम्; निषेधार्थकः (negation particle)

• anyathā: otherwise
• anyathā: Kriya-viśeṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: anyathā (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्ययम्; क्रियाविशेषणम् (otherwise)

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (in instruction, traditionally to Maitreya; vocative suggests the teaching is framed for a king as well)

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Parasara

Topic: Whether all varṇas can worship Vishnu and by what means

Teaching: Ethical

Quality: directive

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: For all social stations, devotion to one’s own ordained duty is presented as the direct means of worshipping Vishnu.

Vedantic Theme: Dharma

Application: Commit to your legitimate responsibilities with integrity and offer the results to Vishnu, avoiding envy of others’ roles.

Vishishtadvaita: The Lord accepts service in diverse forms because all selves are His modes (prakāra) and all rightful action can be consecrated to Him.

Vaishnava Theology

Vishnu Form: Narayana

Bhakti Type: Dasya

Characters & Entities

• Vishnu
• Brahmana
• Kshatriya
• King (Prithivipati)

FAQs

What is the significance of svadharma in the Vishnu Purana?

This verse teaches that svadharma—faithful performance of one’s rightful duties—is itself a direct mode of worship of Vishnu, aligning personal life with cosmic order.

How does Sage Parāśara explain the path to worship Vishnu here?

Parāśara frames worship as practical and embodied: each varna honors Vishnu by sincerely fulfilling its own dharma, rather than by abandoning one’s station for a different discipline.

What is the theological importance of Lord Vishnu in this context?

Vishnu is presented as the supreme recipient and ground of dharma—devotion is validated not merely by ritual, but by living one’s ordained responsibilities as an offering to Him.