Shloka 2
Vaitaraṇī: Torments of the Sinful, Sins Enumerated, and the Vaitaraṇī Go-dāna Rite
श्रीकृष्ण उवाच / या सा वैतरणी नाम यममार्गे महासरित् / अगाधा दुस्तरा पापैर्दृष्टमात्रा भयावहा
śrīkṛṣṇa uvāca / yā sā vaitaraṇī nāma yamamārge mahāsarit / agādhā dustarā pāpairdṛṣṭamātrā bhayāvahā
قال شري كريشنا: «ذلك النهر العظيم في طريق يَما، المسمّى ڤايتارَني، لا قاع له ويعسر على أهل الذنوب عبوره؛ ومجرّد رؤيته يبعث الرعب.»
Śrī Kṛṣṇa (as narrator/teacher within Garuda Purana tradition)
Afterlife Stage: Yamaloka Journey
Concept: Pāpa makes the passage (crossing) difficult; perception of the karmic realm itself becomes भयावह for the sinner.
Vedantic Theme: Karma-phala as niyati within saṃsāra; fear arises from identification and accumulated demerit, while dharma mitigates suffering.
Application: Reduce harmful actions and cultivate merit (dāna, satkarma, bhakti) to avoid fear at death; use mortality contemplation to reform conduct now.
Primary Rasa: bhayanaka
Secondary Rasa: karuna
Type: river
Related Themes: Garuda Purana Pretakalpa: Yama-mārga descriptions (messengers, rivers, checkpoints); Garuda Purana: dāna as ‘tāraṇa’ (crossing aid) for Vaitaraṇī in related passages
FAQs
This verse presents Vaitaraṇī as a major threshold on Yama’s path—an unfathomable, fear-inducing river that symbolizes the karmic ordeal faced especially by sinners after death.
It indicates that the post-death route includes formidable stations like Vaitaraṇī; the soul’s experience there is shaped by karma, with sinful conduct making the crossing “difficult” and psychologically terrifying.
Live with ethical restraint (avoid pāpa) and cultivate generosity and dharma, so one’s after-death journey—described as karmically conditioned—need not be marked by fear and hardship.