Shloka 17
Karma-vipāka: Truth, Yama’s Judgment, and the Marks of Sin in Rebirth
मात्सर्यादपि जात्यन्धो जन्मान्धः पुस्तकं हरन् / फलान्याहरतो ऽपत्यं म्रियते नात्र संशयः
mātsaryādapi jātyandho janmāndhaḥ pustakaṃ haran / phalānyāharato 'patyaṃ mriyate nātra saṃśayaḥ
من فرط الحسد يصير أعمى بطبيعته—أعمى منذ الولادة—ثم يسرق كتابًا. ومن يأخذ ثمار غيره يموت ولده؛ لا شكّ في ذلك.
Lord Vishnu (in discourse to Garuda/Vinata-putra)
Concept: Mātsarya (envy) and theft—especially of knowledge (book)—ripen into congenital blindness; taking others’ fruits leads to loss of one’s own offspring.
Vedantic Theme: Karmic correspondence between intention (envy), act (theft), and result (privation of sight/lineage); suffering as moral feedback within samsara.
Application: Cultivate muditā (non-envious joy), respect intellectual property and learning, avoid exploitation of others’ livelihood (‘fruits’), and practice restitution when harm is done.
Primary Rasa: karuna
Secondary Rasa: bhayanaka
Related Themes: Garuda Purana 2.46 (envy/theft and specific karmaphala)
FAQs
It links specific acts of adharma—stealing a book and stealing fruits—to concrete karmic results, emphasizing that envy-driven wrongdoing harms both the doer and their family line.
In the Preta Kanda’s catalog of misdeeds, it illustrates a cause-and-effect model: envy and theft are not merely social crimes but karmic causes producing suffering (such as disability or loss of offspring).
Avoid envy-based actions and all forms of theft—including intellectual theft or taking what is offered to others—since the text frames such acts as spiritually corrosive and socially destructive.