Parāśara Maharshi
Parāśara
Parāśara Maharshi is the son of Śakti, eldest son of Vasishṭha Maharshi, and of Adṛśyantī, and the father of Kṛshṇa Dvaipāyana, Vyāsa. His father was slain by King Kalmāshapāda, turned into a rākshasa by Śakti’s own śāpa, and Parāśara was born already versed in the Vedas. When he heard of his father’s death he resolved to burn the worlds with his tapas, until his grandfather Vasishṭha calmed him with the account of Aurva. By the grace of Bhagavān Śiva he saw his father in the higher lokas. He then began a sattra-yajña to destroy the rākshasas, and at the word of the ṛshis he set its fire down on the Himālaya, where Pulastya Maharshi taught him all the lore of the Purāṇas.
On the Yamunā he met Satyavatī, the fisher-maiden, and their son was Vyāsa. Parāśara taught dharma, tapas and moksha to King Janaka, jyotisha to Maitreya Maharshi and the ṛshis, and gave the Parāśara Smṛti, the dharma-śāstra for Kali Yuga. The Vāmana Purāṇa tells that he worshipped the liṅga that Indra installed in Kurukshetra and gained the power of excellent poetry. The Agni Purāṇa names him among the twenty teachers of dharma whose teaching gives bhukti and mukti, and tells that he composed the Vishṇu Purāṇa of twenty-three thousand ślokas.
Parāśara Smṛti as the Dharmaśāstra of Kali Yuga
In Kaliyuga, the dharma to be observed is the Parāśara Smṛti, compiled by the great ṛshi 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 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 Kalmāshapāda
Śakti, eldest son of Vasishṭha, journeyed through the forest when he met King Kalmāshapāda of the Ikshvāku 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 ṛshi and violating dharma. In anger, Kalmāshapāda struck Śakti with his staff. Stricken by rage, Śakti pronounced a śāpa (curse) on the king:
“O brutish one, you have attacked me without cause, behaved like a rākshasa, and forgotten the duties of kshatriyas. May you become a rākshasa!”
Thus transformed, Kalmāshapāda became the rākshasa Maddaṃśa (commonly called Kalmāshapāda).
Vasishṭha’s Grief and the Ṛshi’s Survival
Supported by Śakti’s protection, Viśvāmitra—who harbored enmity toward Vasishṭha—later killed Vasishṭha’s other sons. Vasishṭha, 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 Vasishṭha’s life and rushed to pacify her husband. Revealing that she carried Śakti’s heir in her womb, she implored him to spare Vasishṭha 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 account of his father’s death at a rākshasa’s hand and his mother’s suffering, Parāśara resolved to punish the devas 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.
Vasishṭha’s Intervention
Deep in tapas, Vasishṭha 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.
Vasishṭha’s Counsel to Parāśara
Once, Vasishṭha related an ancient account as an example. “In the Bhṛgu line there lived a great ṛshi named Aurva, born within your own gotra. His parents were slain by kshatriyas, 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 tapas. ‘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.”
Vasishṭha’s compassion and serenity thus revealed his exalted sattvika nature.
Parāśara’s Resolve and Śiva’s Vara
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 Vishṇu, and then seek the face of my pitṛ in the higher lokas, confident in the grace of Bhagavān Vishṇu.”
Soon his tapas 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 Bhagavān Śiva’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 higher lokas, saw his father in blissful health, and returned to his mother to rejoice and recount his blessings.
The Rākshasa-Samhāra Yajña
Back with Vasishṭha, Parāśara resolved no longer to seek universal destruction but rather to eradicate only the malevolent rākshasas. To this end he chose worthy priests and began the Sattra-yajña, kindling three sacred fires.
Vasishṭha, 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 ṛshis, the assembled ṛshis—Pulastya, Pulāha, and many others—approached him with reverence and asked why he had shown such compassion.
They explained, “O Ṛshi, your intention to destroy all rākshasas appears violent even if prompted by righteous resolve. The rākshasas too were created by Parameśvara and have their place in cosmic order. To employ your tapas for their total annihilation contradicts dharma itself.”
Counsel of the ṛshis on the Yajña
The assembled great ṛshis approached Parāśara and spoke: “If your resolve is guided by surrender to Īśvara, then you might pray, ‘May even these rākshasas 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 rākshasa 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 Vasishṭha forbade it. Now you tell me that even in this yajña the destruction of rākshasas 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 rākshasa loka. If I retract that vow now, will this yajña 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 ṛshis 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 Himālaya, 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 Yajña on the Himālaya
Obedient to their counsel, Parāśara carried the blazing yajña fire—a flame so fierce it could have devoured even the mightiest rākshasas—to the heights of the Himālaya. 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 ṛshi Pulastya, born of Brahmā, visited Parāśara. He imparted all lore of the Purāṇas in sweet discourse and bestowed upon him a vara 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 ṛshi 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 truths of her past, 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 Kṛshṇa 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 ṛshi 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 Maharshi, 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 ṛshi’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 tapas, 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 devas. 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 the supreme moksha? What deed is indestructible?”
Parāśara answered: “Non-attachment is the highest good; knowledge is the supreme moksha. Among all actions, tapas alone is indestructible.”
Nature of Tapas and Its Efficacy
We constantly invoke the term tapas. The Rākshasas performed tapas to Rudra, undertaking intense tapas. As a consequence, when they petitioned Bhagavān Rudra for varas, their tapas withered away. Continuous tapas that asks for no vara 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. Parāśara Maharshi 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 one’s own moksha—that is true dharma. The one who rescues himself through that teaching is the embodiment of Mahālakshmī, the embodiment of supreme courage and wisdom. Never forsake that dhairyā or that jñāna under any circumstance. Only such dispassionate jñāna brings moksha. Ritual action devoid of destruction is tapas. True moksha comes through jñāna and tapas. In this way, Parāśara Maharshi 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 rudrāksha 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 Bhagavān Śiva’s darśana. Having imparted this guidance, Parāśara Maharshi departed, leaving the princes to their austere practices.
Instruction on Jīva to Maitreya – Brahmāṁśa Distinctions and Jyotisha
One day, Brahmā, Maitreya, and other great ṛshis came to Parāśara Maharshi and requested, “Explain in detail the distinctions between the jīva–brahmāṁśa aspects of a living being.” Parāśara taught them the science of jyotisha. 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 jyotisha 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 purushārtha, moksha. 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 Maharshi 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 Mahāvishṇu as the one Self permeating all worlds. He emphasized that every deity is a manifestation of Vishṇu, the supreme guru of the universe, the one refuge for all.
At Indra’s liṅga in Kurukshetra
The Saro Māhātmya of the Vāmana Purāṇa, in its list of the tīrthas and liṅgas around the Sthāṇu tīrtha in Kurukshetra, names a liṅga that Indra (Devendra) installed long ago, south of the liṅgas Citrāṅgadeśvara and Rambheśvara. By its grace, the fruits one holds in mind are gained. Parāśara Muni worshipped that liṅga, had darśana of Bhagavān Śiva there, and gained the power of excellent poetry (kavitva-śakti). Vedavyāsa Muni also worshipped there and gained sarvajñatva (knowledge of all things) and brahmajñāna (the knowledge of Brahman).
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 25
Parāśara’s Renunciation and Legacy
Parāśara Maharshi 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 moksha.
Works of Parāśara
The Inquiry of the Ṛshis About Kali-yuga Dharma
Once a multitude of ṛshis approached Vyāsa Maharshi and asked, “O Mahārshi, 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 Maharshi, is performing tapas in Badarikāśrama. Let us go there.” He then led the ṛshis to his father’s hermitage. After offering salutations and completing the pradakshiṇa, 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 Kṛta-yuga. For each of the four yugas—Kṛta, Tretā, Dvāpara, and Kali—a different Smṛti has been ordained. 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 moksha, pointing to the means of transcendence; the jīvaṁśa (jīva-portion) denotes the tapas or yoga that the individual must practice, indicating the rituals, the pūjā of devatās, and the tapas suited to each one’s lineage and disposition.
Other Works authored by Parāśara
Beyond his Smṛti, Parāśara Maharshi is authored numerous legal and astronomical treatises. The Vṛddha-Parāśara Hora in the field of jyotisha details planetary mahā daśās: when the Moon is in Aśvinī nakshatra, 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 Maharshi 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.
Per Agni Purāṇa
Pushkara, telling in brief the dharma that gives bhukti (enjoyment) and mukti (release), names the teachers of dharma whose teaching he gathers: Manu, Vishṇu, Yājñavalkya, Hārīta, Atri, Yama, Aṅgiras, Vasishṭha, Daksha, Saṃvarta, Śātātapa, Parāśara, Āpastamba, Uśanas, Vyāsa, Kātyāyana, Bṛhaspati, Gautama, Śaṅkha and Likhita.
Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 162
In his account of the gift of the Purāṇas, Pushkara says that Parāśara composed the Vishṇu Purāṇa, with the account of the Varāha Kalpa, in twenty-three thousand ślokas. One who gives the Vishṇu Purāṇa in the month of Āshāḍha together with a jala-dhenu (a “cow” made of water-pots) reaches the abode of Vishṇu.
Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 272
Teaching on the Path of Dharma, Tapas, and Moksha
Parāśara Maharshi 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 moksha. He clarified that mere travel to Brahmaloka by śauca alone does not constitute moksha, for it remains a karmic realm of return. Thus, for the ordinary person, the refuge is īśvara-ārādhanā, devotion to Īśvara. Any being—deva or asura—can fulfill petty desires by ritual pūjā, but only Parameśvara can bestow the supreme vara of moksha. Brahmā, creator of the world, governs prakṛti and karma for the welfare of beings, teaching them to perform righteous deeds, enjoy the fruits of svarga and earth, and avoid ruin. Moksha 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 sacred fire 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 moksha. 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 ṛshi. Parāśara grew into a preeminent ṛshi, inheriting Vasishṭha’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.
Sources
- Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva (Parāśara Gītā)
- Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 25
- Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 162, 272