Canto 3: Araṇya-kāṇḍa ()Chapter 39: Mārīca Describes his Second Encounter with Lord RāmaText 3.39.21
Canto 3 -
Araṇya-kāṇḍa
Chapter 39: Mārīca Describes his Second Encounter with Lord Rāma
Text 3.39.21
बहवः साधवो लोके युक्ता धर्ममनुष्ठिताः।
परेषामपराधेन विनष्टाः सपरिच्छदाः॥
bahavaḥ sādhavo loke yuktā dharmam anuṣṭhitāḥ
pareṣām aparādhena vinaṣṭāḥ sa-paricchadāḥ
bahavaḥ = many; sādhavaḥ = saintly persons; loke = in the world; yuktāḥ = who were proper in behavior; dharmam = [the rules and regulations of] dharma; anuṣṭhitāḥ = and who carried out; pareṣām = others’; aparādhena = due to offenses; vinaṣṭāḥ = have also perished; sa-paricchadāḥ = along with their families.
Many saintly persons in the world who were proper in behavior and who carried out [the rules and regulations of] dharma have also perished along with their families due to others’ offenses.
1 Rāmāyaṇa-bhūṣaṇa: asat-saṁsarga-doṣeṇety arthaḥ.
[They perished] because of their fault in associating with materialists.1
In the next verse, he then applies this general principle in his [own] situation.