Vamana Purana — Karmic Causes of Narakas, Shloka 9
Karmic Causes of Narakas and the Irremediability of Ingratitude (Kṛtaghna-doṣa)
मर्माणि यस्तु साधूनां तुदन् वाग्भिर्निकृन्तति तस्योपरि तुदन्तस्तु तुण्डैस्तिष्ठन्ति पत्त्रिणः
marmāṇi yastu sādhūnāṃ tudan vāgbhirnikṛntati tasyopari tudantastu tuṇḍaistiṣṭhanti pattriṇaḥ
Whoever pierces the vital points of the virtuous with words—cutting them down by speech—upon him birds stand above and peck (at him) with their beaks.
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FAQs
Verbal injury is treated as real violence: targeting a saint’s ‘marma’ (inner vulnerabilities) by ridicule, slander, or harsh speech is a grave adharma. The verse promotes disciplined speech as a form of ahiṃsā and reverence toward those devoted to dharma.
A nīti/dharma teaching within Purāṇic literature; not a genealogical or cosmological unit. It functions as ethical reinforcement accompanying ritual and devotional frameworks.
As the offender ‘pecks’ with words, the retribution is mirrored: birds peck with beaks. The symmetry signals karmic correspondence—harm inflicted through a ‘sharp’ instrument (speech) returns through an analogous ‘sharp’ instrument (beaks).