HV 38.1
पञ्च तं नाभ्यवर्तन्त विपरीतेन कर्मणा । वेदो धर्मः क्षमा सत्यं श्रीश् च नारायणाश्रया ॥
pañca taṃ nābhyavartanta viparītena karmaṇā | vedo dharmaḥ kṣamā satyaṃ śrīś ca nārāyaṇāśrayā
Five did not serve him, because of his perverse deeds: Veda, dharma, forbearance, truth, and Śrī — for these are refuged-in-Nārāyaṇa.
The Living Words
*Pañca taṃ nābhyavartanta*, 'five did not serve him'. *Viparītena karmaṇā*, 'because of perverse deeds'. *Vedo dharmaḥ kṣamā satyaṃ śrīḥ*, 'Veda, dharma, forbearance, truth, Śrī'. *Nārāyaṇāśrayāḥ*, 'refuged-in-Nārāyaṇa'.
The Heart of It
This is one of the most quoted verses of the Harivaṃśa. Five — *Veda, dharma, kṣamā, satya, Śrī* — are named as irrevocably *nārāyaṇa-āśrayā*. They cannot be transferred. A throne without these is just furniture. The Warkari reading is precise and liberating: a man may seize the oceans (HV 37.55) and the seat (HV 37.59), but he cannot seize *kṣamā*, *satya*, or *Śrī*. These follow only where Nārāyaṇa is named. Jñāneśvar's Haripāṭh Abhaṅga 21 *kṣamā-rūpa hari* — 'Hari in the form of forgiveness' — names HV 38.1's third item *as* the Lord. Tukārām's *satya viṭṭhala-pāyāṁ* — 'truth at Viṭṭhal's feet' — names the fourth. The verse is the whole Warkari ethic in one list: practice the five and you practice *nārāyaṇa-āśraya*; name the Lord and all five arrive unasked.