Householder and Renunciant Can Both Lose the Path
Ayodhya Kanda, Doha 172
Doha 172 · Movement 2 of 2
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Vasishtha continues across stations of life. A householder ruled by delusion may abandon the path of rightful action while remaining surrounded by responsibilities.
A renunciant may wear the marks of withdrawal yet become tangled in worldly schemes, stripped of discrimination and dispassion. Outer position alone does not protect the inner vow.
Both are worthy of grief because each has lost the truth particular to the chosen way. The teaching asks Bharata to judge Dasharatha by the alignment of life and dharma, not by the sorrow of its ending. The king fulfilled his station, while many survive inside roles they no longer inhabit inwardly.
Vasishtha measures neither home nor ochre robe, but whether the heart still walks the dharma proper to its life.
Read the passage from the Manas
सोचिअ गृही जो मोह बस करइ करम पथ त्याग। सोचिअ जति प्रंपच रत बिगत बिबेक बिराग।।172।।
Grieve for the householder who, under the spell of delusion, abandons the path of righteous action. Grieve for the renunciant entangled in worldly affairs, bereft of discernment and detachment.