Parasara

Parāśara Smṛti as the Dharmaśāstra of Kali Yuga

In Kaliyuga, the dharma to be observed is the Parāśara Smṛti, compiled by the great sage Parāśara. Each yuga requires its own smṛti because the mental and physical capacities of humanity differ across ages. Today’s life expectancy of eighty years—with roughly twenty years of youth, thirty years of family life, and thirty years of old age—demands rules suited to the strength, digestive power, and endurance characteristic of each life stage. Dharma is part of daily conduct, and its observance must match one’s age and capabilities.

The Succession of Dharma in the Four Yugas

Dharma evolves with each age:

• In Kṛta Yuga, the Manusmṛti guided conduct.
• In Tretā Yuga, Gautama’s Dharmaśāstra prevailed.
• In Dvāpara Yuga, the smṛtis written on palm-leaf (śaṅkhalikhita) dictated practice.
• In Kali Yuga, humanity lacks the power to uphold śaṅkhalikhita smṛtis, so the Parāśara Smṛti was ordained.

Parāśara laid down precepts tailored to our present age, earning him the title of dharma-śāstra-kartā (lawgiver) of Kali Yuga.

The Encounter of Śakti and King Kalmāṣapāda

Śakti, eldest son of Vasiṣṭha, journeyed through the forest when he met King Kalmāṣapāda of the Ikṣvāku line, who was weary from hunting. Without recognizing Śakti as a brahmin, the king refused him respect and pushed him aside. Indignant, Śakti reproached the king for disrespecting a sage and violating dharma. In anger, Kalmāṣapāda struck Śakti with his staff. Stricken by rage, Śakti cursed the king:

“O brutish one, you have attacked me without cause, behaved like a demon, and forgotten the duties of kṣatriyas. May you become a rakṣasa!”

Thus transformed, Kalmāṣapāda became the demon Maddaṃśa (commonly called Kalmāṣapāda).

Vasiṣṭha’s Grief and the Sage’s Survival

Supported by Śakti’s protection, Viśvāmitra—who harbored enmity toward Vasiṣṭha—later killed Vasiṣṭha’s other sons. Vasiṣṭha, overwhelmed with sorrow, attempted self-immolation and drowning, but elemental forces refused to betray him: his sacred fire was quenched, the ocean’s waves bore him safely, and the mountain’s heights spared him.

Birth of Parāśara

Śakti’s wife, Adr̥śyantī, learned of her father’s attempt on Vasiṣṭha’s life and rushed to pacify her husband. Revealing that she carried Śakti’s heir in her womb, she implored him to spare Vasiṣṭha so that the unborn child might be raised by his grandfather. Moved, Śakti relented.

Their unborn son, Parāśara, grew within his mother’s womb hearing the Vedic chants and rituals of his ancestors. He emerged already versed in the Vedas, free from the faults of the world. Called Śakti’s “invisible” son, he bore within him the full strength of his lineage.

Parāśara’s Resolve and the Cosmic Tremor

Upon learning the full tale of his father’s death at a demon’s hand and his mother’s suffering, Parāśara resolved to punish the gods who had failed to protect his parents. In a fit of righteous wrath, he vowed to reduce the cosmos to ashes with his tapas. Such fierce determination sent tremors through all existence.

Vasiṣṭha’s Intervention

Deep in austerities, Vasiṣṭha perceived his grandson’s destructive resolve. Hastening to Parāśara’s side, he spoke gently:
“O Parāśara, your resolve is fearsome. Know that death is the common fate of all born beings by the ordinance of karma. Your father, though slain, has attained blessed realms. Do not let anger destroy the world.”

Pacified by his grandfather’s words and the knowledge of karma, Parāśara withdrew his wrath. Thus the harmony of dharma was restored.

Vasiṣṭha’s Counsel to Parāśara

Once, Vasiṣṭha related an ancient story as an example. “In the Bhṛgu line there lived a great sage named Aurva, born within your own gotra. His parents were slain by kṣatriyas, and in grief and wrath he undertook such terrible tapas that the three worlds trembled in fear. Then his deceased parents, now as pitṛdevatās, appeared before Aurva and implored him to cease his fierce austerities. ‘How can death befall one unless it is ordained by dharma?’ they asked. ‘To imagine any other cause is not the mark of a wise man.’ Thus pacified, Aurva laid aside his wrath.”

Hearing this, Parāśara said, “Grandfather, had I not been aflame with anger, I might yet have asked how to proceed further. Yet at your mere appearance that dreadful resolve of mine was dispelled. My heart had no peace, and still you calmed it so swiftly.”

Vasiṣṭha’s compassion and serenity thus revealed his exalted sattvika nature.

Parāśara’s Resolve and Śiva’s Boon

Parāśara reflected, “My father’s fate stirs my anger, and your words bring me peace. In neither feeling am I the doer—I am merely their witness.”

Resolved to behold his father, he declared, “I will wander in tapas for the sake of Viṣṇu, and then seek the face of my pitṛ in the higher lokas, confident in the grace of the Lord.”

Soon his penance bore fruit: he had a divine vision of Śiva, to whom he offered praise: “Mahādeva, you are the cause of creation, preservation, and dissolution; the locus of ananda-brahma. I performed tapas for you alone, yet now my only desire is to behold my father. You, the bestower of blessings, must grant this wish.”

Praising Śiva as ānanda-brahmādhishṭhāna-devatā, Parāśara invoked the Lord’s pure nature of bliss. Śiva responded, “With my grace you may traverse the fourteen lokas to behold your father. Worship Rudra alone as your guide, for his nature is beyond all cosmic functions and free of desires. Through his grace you shall attain your goal.”

Thus empowered, Parāśara proceeded to the heavenly realms, saw his father in blissful health, and returned to his mother to rejoice and recount his blessings.

The Rākṣasa-Samhāra Yajña

Back with Vasiṣṭha, Parāśara resolved no longer to seek universal destruction but rather to eradicate only the malevolent rākṣasas. To this end he chose worthy priests and began the Sattra-yajña, kindling three sacred fires.

Vasiṣṭha, though ever tranquil and without anger, did not interpose against this purpose. Seeing Parāśara’s yajña flames glow like a fourth fire in the abode of sages, the assembled ṛṣis—Pulastya, Pulāha, and many others—approached him with reverence and asked why he had shown such compassion.

They explained, “O Sage, your intention to destroy all rākṣasas appears violent even if prompted by righteous resolve. The rākṣasas too were created by the Lord and have their place in cosmic order. To employ your tapas for their total annihilation contradicts dharma itself.”

Counsel of the ṛṣis on the Sacrifice

The assembled great sages approached Parāśara and spoke: “If your resolve is guided by surrender to Īśvara, then you might pray, ‘May even these rākṣasas be consumed so that they no longer trouble the virtuous, but let no harm befall the righteous themselves. If they survive, so be it; that is no concern of mine.’ Thus limited by divine devotion, you could abandon the intention to annihilate all rākṣasa power. We have come to request that you desist from this yajña.”

Parāśara replied, “In ages past I considered destroying all the worlds, yet my grandfather Vasiṣṭha forbade it. Now you tell me that even in this sacrifice the destruction of rākṣasas is not your wish. One must honor the counsel of one’s elders. From this moment I will bring this yajña to its conclusion.”

Yet he added, “The fires have already been kindled with the vow to consume the entire rākṣasa loka. If I retract that vow now, will this sacrifice not itself consume me? Please, since you speak for the welfare of the world, suggest a means by which I may lay aside my resolve without harm.”

Seeing that the yajña could not simply be revoked, the sages advised: “Rather than renouncing your vow outright—lest its latent power yet unfold—take this sacred fire elsewhere. Convey it to a lonely spot in the Himalaya, there to be left undirected.”

They explained that in ancient practice, when one set out from home, one would perform samidhādhāna by offering a handful of samidha into the nitya-agnīhotra fire and instructing, “Remain here,” before departing.

Deposition of the Fiery Sacrifice in the Himalayas

Obedient to their counsel, Parāśara carried the blazing yajña fire—a flame so fierce it could have devoured even the mightiest rākṣasas—to the heights of the Himalaya. There, unchecked by ordinary fuel, it turned to consume stones and entire peaks. In time it formed great agni-parvatas—mountains of living fire—whose terror and hunger could only be matched by their origin in Parāśara’s own tapas.

It was there, amid those fiery summits, that the sage Pulastya, born of Brahmā, visited Parāśara. He imparted all lore of the Purāṇas in sweet discourse and bestowed upon him a boon of remarkable intellect before departing.

With that, Parāśara’s fire cooled and his mind found peace once more.

Union with Satyavatī and Birth of Vyāsa

Embarking on pilgrimage, Parāśara came to the Yamunā river, where he met a maiden named Matsyagandhī, also called Satyavatī. She was born of the fisherfolk, her body redolent of the river’s fish—hence her name—and renowned for her peerless beauty.

Parāśara asked her to ferry him across the stream, and she agreed. Captivated by her grace, he declared: “Fair maiden, you dwell among fishermen. If you save this sage without blemishing your honour, I shall claim you for my own.”

He then revealed her former life: “In ages past you were the divine maiden Acchoda, born in the lake of Aurva. You desired mortal parents and fell to earth, losing your divinity. Yet you cursed to return as human, your pitṛ-devatās granted you this birth so that you might gain an illustrious child and husband.”

Satyavatī remembered these truth-tales, and Parāśara bestowed upon her a body free of all impurity, fragrant as celestial blossoms, with divine ornaments and a veil of concealment so that none might behold their union. Thus she became fragrant as yojana-gandha and bore no stigma of maidenhood lost.

By the next moment she conceived, and soon gave birth to a son. As she had requested no breach of her virgin purity, the boy was born immediately—and was named Krishna Dvaipayana, for his dark hue and his birth upon an island-like boat. Instantly able to salute his parents, he was blessed by Parāśara: “May you transcend the worlds!”

The sage then departed, vowing to wander in tapas until recalled by Satyavatī, and the child would be known henceforth as Vyāsa. Parāśara journeyed on pilgrimage, finally settling at Badarikāśrama to teach the principles of dharma to many disciples.

Teaching of Dharma to King Janaka

One day King Janaka of Videha came before Parāśara and requested: “O Maharṣi, I wish to understand dharma. Please instruct me.”

Parāśara answered: “To reap fruit one needs a tree; to have a tree one needs a seed. Likewise, he who desires happiness must follow dharma. If tomorrow you seek pleasure, today your duty is to act righteously.

“No deed, good or bad, remains without its fruit. Therefore guard mind, speech, and sight with truthfulness, serenity, and right conduct. Let your vision be impartial, your judgments sound in justice. If one becomes free of all debts—through study of the Vedas to repay the ṛṣi’s debt, through yajña and charity to repay the deva’s debt, through hospitality to repay the guest’s debt, and through almsgiving to repay the people’s debt—he becomes pure. This is the path of dharma.”

Janaka asked further: “What is austerity, and by what excellence does tapas stand apart?”

Parāśara replied: “O King, there are those learned in the Vedas, those who have realized Brahma, those favored by the gods. How did they attain such exalted spheres? Only through tapas. Tapas is the sure path to the higher lokas. It is by tapas that Brahmā gained the power to create this universe. For every worldly or otherworldly desire, there is no path but tapas. Even one beset by family, wealth, or suffering may purify mind and attain peace through tapas alone. Desire never touches the tapasvī.”

Janaka pressed: “What is the highest good? What is supreme liberation? What deed is indestructible?”

Parāśara answered: “Non-attachment is the highest good; knowledge is supreme liberation. Among all actions, tapas alone is indestructible.”

Nature of Tapas and Its Efficacy

We constantly invoke the term tapas. The Rākṣasas performed tapas to Rudra, undertaking intense austerities. As a consequence, when they petitioned the Lord for boons, their tapas withered away. Continuous tapas that asks for no boon is called karma free from destruction. If such unbroken tapas is sustained over a long period without cessation, it itself does not perish. Understanding this is the essence of all the Vedas. Parasara Maharṣi also explained that one who fully knows this essence of all the Vedas can remain in the practices of tapas and yoga.

Analogy of the Lotus

Even while immersed in the world of objects, the wise remain untouched by them. They recognize that sense organs exist, that pleasure and pain arise, yet through their knowledge they remain like a lotus floating on water, unsullied by it. In the same way, although one’s existence is rooted in saṃsāra, through jñāna one remains as pure as this lotus.

Impermanence of Samsāra

Saṃsāra is beginningless. A living being’s relationship with saṃsāra has existed from time immemorial. To renounce it is not selfishness but duty. Merely eating, enjoying comforts, sleeping, and bearing children—thinking there is nothing beyond these—one swiftly perishes. Human beings undergo far more suffering than happiness. Those who accept pleasure and pain as real and remain in them are trapped forever. Whoever recognizes them as impermanent escapes them. Even for one aware that “my own existence is impermanent, so how can the pleasure and pain I experience be permanent?” one must cultivate viveka, discriminative wisdom.

Selfless Love and Detachment

Friends, spouses, siblings, and children are true fellow-workers in the world. They depend on you to fulfill their needs. Yet they do not depend on you for your yoga or well-being. Remember that “my wife loves me,” but she loves the benefits she derives from me. We always love only that which serves us—that is no falsehood. One should not hate that love, but offer oneself selflessly. Recognize that those who love you love you for their own ends, and still serve them. But with detached love, without clinging to outcomes. Serve them fully, discharge your debts to them, and do not mistake their self-serving love for pure affection.

Essence of Dharma and Jñāna

He who receives teaching for self-salvation—that is true dharma. The one who rescues himself through that teaching is the embodiment of Mahālakṣmī, the embodiment of supreme courage and wisdom. Never forsake that dhairyā or that jñāna under any circumstance. Only such dispassionate jñāna brings liberation. Ritual action devoid of destruction is tapas. True liberation comes through jñāna and tapas. In this way, Parasara Maharṣi taught the entire essence of the Vedas.

All of the above teachings to King Janaka are contained in the Parāśaragīta, as narrated in the Śāntiparvan of the Mahābhārata.

The Royal Audience of King Bhadra Sena

Once, King Bhadra Sena of Kashmir, whose son Sudharma and the minister’s son Dhāraka were both devoted Śiva-bhaktas, came to Parāśara’s āśrama. The monarch lamented that his heirs, ever clad in vibhūti and rudrākṣa and chanting Śiva’s name, would not take up public duties. Parāśara replied that such practitioners have no fixed lifespan, for they are born of past karma as divine devotees. He offered to teach them the proper method of japa and tapas that would sustain their devotion without hindering their dharma. Thereafter, he blessed them with an appropriate lifespan and sangha of years, assuring their survival until they received the Lord’s darśana. Having imparted this guidance, Parāśara Maharṣi departed, leaving the princes to their austere practices.

Instruction on Jīva to Maitreya – Brahmāṁśa Distinctions and Jyotiṣa

One day, Brahmā, Maitreya, and other great sages came to Parāśara Maharṣi and requested, “Explain in detail the distinctions between the jīva–brahmāṁśa aspects of a living being.” Parāśara taught them the science of jyotiṣa. He explained that one must discern the jīva–brahmāṁśa differentiations within human beings through astrological principles, for thereby one knows how auspicious and inauspicious results arise. All karma that grants the embodied jīva this human form brings with it near at hand pleasures and pains. Beyond all those karmic outcomes there shines Brahman alone—the inner Self, the Antaryāmī.

Parāśara’s intent in teaching jyotiṣa was to guide people through the stages of life’s evolution. Observing the mind, intellect, ego, and body-identification of individuals, one discerns the moments when they should perform their duties (dharma and artha) that lead to Self-vision (ātma-darśana). Having renounced passion, one then attains the fourth puruṣārtha, mokṣa. In this way, the science of astrology becomes a map showing which duties to perform, which deities to worship, and which yogic or tapas means to adopt at each phase of human evolution.

Parāśara as Maitreya’s Ātmaguru

A wondrous secret tradition holds that Maitreya Maharṣi chose Parāśara as his Ātmaguru in perpetual childhood. Forever twelve years old, Maitreya desired direct ātmabodha from Parāśara. Despite having mastered all Vedas, Vedāṅgas, and dharma-śāstras through Parāśara’s grace, his doubts remained—questions that no scripture had fully resolved. He said, “Though the Vedas speak, their words leave me uncertain. Having your mouth as my teacher, I must inquire.”

Parāśara assured him that all answers would be found in Purāṇic form, and he then taught the eternal, the imperishable nature of Mahāviṣṇu as the one Self permeating all worlds. He emphasized that every deity is a manifestation of Viṣṇu, the supreme guru of the universe, the one refuge for all.

Parāśara’s Renunciation and Legacy

Parāśara Maharṣi lived out his remaining days detached from even the joy of his disciple Vyāsa. He never married again, never returned to worldly affairs, and eventually ascended to Brahmaloka. He never claimed authorship of any text, for he taught directly to disciples like Maitreya and left no signature on his teachings. His wisdom survives in the Parāśara Smṛti, Parāśara Hora, Vṛddha‐Parāśari, and fragments of the Bṛhat-Parāśari. He stands as the fountainhead of both dharma-śāstra for Kali-yuga and the entire tradition of Vedic astrology, guiding seekers along the paths of duty, devotion, and liberation.

Works of Parāśara

The Inquiry of the Ṛṣis About Kali-yuga Dharma

Once a multitude of ṛṣis approached Vyāsa Maharṣi and asked, “O Mahārṣi, the coming age is Kali-yuga. What is the true nature of the dharma suitable for practice in that age? Kindly instruct us.” Vyāsa replied, “That is a matter of the future. I do not yet know its form.” He continued, “My father, Parāśara Maharṣi, is performing tapas in Badarikāśrama. Let us go there.” He then led the ṛṣis to his father’s hermitage. After offering salutations and completing the pradakṣiṇa, they received from Parāśara a complete exposition of the duties appropriate to every varṇa and āśrama. That teaching was preserved as the Parāśara Smṛti, the dharma-śāstra for Kali-yuga.

Formation of the Parāśara Smṛti

The Parāśara Smṛti is regarded as supremely sacred. Its ācāra-kāṇḍa (ritual section) contains three assurances, and its prāyaścitta-kāṇḍa (expiatory section) spans twelve chapters. In total the text comprises 573 ślokas. This Smṛti alone is to be followed in our age; the Mānava Smṛti belongs to Krita-yuga. For each of the four yugas—Krita, Treta, Dvāpara, and Kali—a different Smṛti has been ordained. Though the surviving Mānava Smṛti preserves many authentic precepts of earlier codes, its original text for Krita-yuga has largely been lost and interpolated. Careful comparison shows that the Gautama Smṛti, the Parāśara Smṛti, and the Smṛtis preserved on palm-leaf rolls collectively teach the common duties of humanity. The extant Mānava Smṛti stands as a monumental codex of ancient law, yet for practical guidance in Kali-yuga the Parāśara Smṛti is authoritative.

The Parāśara Hora and Bṛhat-Parāśari

Parāśara’s astrological treatise is known as the Parāśara Hora—“Hora” signifying the two letters at the center of “ahorātra” (day and night). It is a profound work of time-knowledge. Its expanded recension, the Bṛhat-Parāśari, contains more familiar material, but the original Hora lays out the cosmic principles by which one reads the jīva–brahmāṁśa mix in any birth chart. The brahmāṁśa (Brahman-portion) corresponds to knowledge and liberation, pointing to the means of transcendence; the jīvaṁśa (jīva-portion) denotes the tapas or yoga that the individual must practice, indicating the rituals, deity-worship, and austerities suited to each one’s lineage and disposition.

Other Works authored by Parāśara

Beyond his Smṛti, Parāśara Maharṣi is authored numerous legal and astronomical treatises. The Vṛddha-Parāśara Hora in the field of jyotiṣa details planetary mahā daśās: when the Moon is in Aśvinī nakṣatra, the Mahā daśā of Ketu lasts seven years; followed by Śukra for twenty years, Sūrya for six, Candra for ten, Maṅgala for seven, Rāhu for eighteen, Bṛhaspati for sixteen, Śani for nineteen, and Budha for seventeen. How these durations relate to each planet and star remains a secret tradition of Parāśara’s authority. Vṛddha-Parāśara is regarded as the foundational text of the astrology we follow today and serves as its grand progenitor.

Thus, Parāśara Maharṣi stands not only as the author of the authoritative dharma-code for this age but also as the patriarch of Vedic astrology, its earliest master whose decisions on rites, laws, and celestial timings continue to guide seekers of both worldly order and transcendent wisdom.

Teaching on the Path of Dharma, Tapas, and Mokṣa

Parāśara Maharṣi rigorously instructed all his disciples in the path of dharma and insisted that they practice it faithfully. He taught that through śauca (purificatory practices) one may attain Brahmaloka, return to the world, and then, having become a yogin, finally secure mokṣa. He clarified that mere travel to Brahmaloka by śauca alone does not constitute liberation, for it remains a karmic realm of return. Thus, for the ordinary person, the refuge is īśvara-ārādhanā, devotion to the Lord. Any being—divine or demonic—can fulfill petty desires by ritual worship, but only Parameśvara can bestow the supreme boon of mokṣa. Brahmā, creator of the world, governs prakṛti and karma for the welfare of beings, teaching them to perform righteous deeds, enjoy the fruits of heaven and earth, and avoid ruin. Liberation lies beyond that domain.

The Vedic rituals—yajñas and other saṃskāras—proposed by Brahmā are all saṃskṛta, embedded within the three guṇas. They are not themselves jñāna, though they reflect the Vedic revelation of karma. When one greets the fire sacrifice with the mantra “karmabrahma-svarūpiṇe,” one addresses Agnihotra as the embodiment of karma’s cosmic function. Yet in truth, tāmas and rājas guṇa are transcended by the jñāna of nirguṇa Brahman, which alone grants liberation. Hence the Vedic acts remain worldly in aim, and true wisdom lies in transcendence.

Parāśara’s Teachings and Legacy

In time, Aśmakā—Śakti’s second consort—bore Parāśara’s half-brother, Śuka. Śuka too became a great sage. Parāśara grew into a preeminent ṛṣi, inheriting Vasiṣṭha’s tapas and Śakti’s insight. He composed the Parāśara Smṛti for Kali Yuga, laying down laws suited to the capacities and duties of our age.

Through his life and work, Parāśara upheld the dharma ordained by Viśvakarman, ensuring its endurance through the ages.