Matsya Purana — The Tale of Brahmadatta: Past-life Memory, Shloka 6

Devanagari script

अधर्म एष इति वः पिता तान् अभ्यवारयत् वृद्धं पितरमुत्सृज्य दरिद्रं वनवासिनः //

Transliteration

adharma eṣa iti vaḥ pitā tān abhyavārayat vṛddhaṃ pitaramutsṛjya daridraṃ vanavāsinaḥ //

Translation

“یہ اَدھرم ہے” کہہ کر تمہارے باپ نے انہیں روکا؛ کیونکہ وہ بوڑھے باپ کو چھوڑ کر اسے مفلس حالت میں جنگل میں رہنے کے لیے چھوڑ گئے تھے۔

Word by Word

• अधर्मः: unrighteousness, adharma

• एषः: this

• इति: thus, saying

• वः: your

• पिता: father

• तान्: them

• अभ्यवारयत्: restrained, forbade, held back

• वृद्धम्: aged, old

• पितरम्: father (accusative)

• उत्सृज्य: abandoning, casting off

• दरिद्रम्: poor, destitute

• वनवासिनः: living in the forest, forest-dweller

Speaker

• Lord Matsya (in discourse to Vaivasvata Manu, narrating an ethical episode)

Entities Mentioned

• father (pitā)
• aged father (vṛddha pitṛ)

Tags

• Dharma
• Pitru-seva
• Family ethics
• Adharma
• Householder duties

FAQs

What does this verse reveal about the creation or dissolution (Pralaya)?

This verse is not about Pralaya; it teaches dharma by condemning the adharma of abandoning an aged parent, emphasizing social and familial order rather than cosmic dissolution.

How does this verse relate to the duties of a King or Householder?

It frames pitṛ-sevā (service to one’s parents) as a core duty: a householder must maintain and protect aged parents, and a king upholds such dharma by restraining and correcting wrongdoing in society.

What is the architectural or ritual significance mentioned here?

No Vāstu or temple-ritual rule is stated here; the verse’s significance is ethical—identifying abandonment of parents as adharma, a key principle that underlies ritual purity and righteous living in the Purāṇic worldview.