Vamana Purana — Karmic Causes of Narakas, Shloka 26
Karmic Causes of Narakas and the Irremediability of Ingratitude (Kṛtaghna-doṣa)
स्वपोषणपरो यस्तु परित्यजति मानवः पुत्रभृत्यकलत्रादिबन्धुवर्गमकिञ्चनम् दुर्भिक्षे संभ्रमे चापि स श्वभोज्ये निपात्यते
svapoṣaṇaparo yastu parityajati mānavaḥ putrabhṛtyakalatrādibandhuvargamakiñcanam durbhikṣe saṃbhrame cāpi sa śvabhojye nipātyate
A person who, intent only on his own maintenance, abandons his impoverished circle of dependents—sons, servants, wife, and other relatives—especially in times of famine and panic, is cast down into (a hell/state called) ‘dog’s food’ (i.e., fit to be eaten by dogs / reduced to canine fare).
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FAQs
Gṛhastha life is defined by responsibility, not mere survival. In hardship, dharma intensifies: abandoning those who rely on you (children, spouse, dependents, kin) is treated as a grave moral failure. The verse promotes solidarity, protection of the vulnerable, and sacrifice of selfishness.
Like many purāṇic nīti passages, it is an instructional dharma segment rather than a core pancalakṣaṇa narrative. It functions as ethical codification embedded within purāṇic discourse (upadeśa), not as sarga/pratisarga/vamśa/vamśānucarita/manvantara description.
‘Śvabhojya’ (dog-food) symbolizes loss of human dignity and social-personal status due to betrayal of dharma. Dogs represent scavenging and abandonment; the punishment mirrors the offender’s own abandonment of dependents.