Shloka 39
Adhyaya 12 — The Son Describes the Narakas: Mahāraurava, Tamas, Nikṛntana, Apratiṣṭha, Asipatravana, and Taptakumbha
कृतावर्ते महातैले मथ्यन्ते पापकर्मिणः ।
एष ते विस्तरेणोक्तस्तप्तकुम्भो मया पितः ॥
kṛtāvarte mahātaile mathyante pāpakarmiṇaḥ / eṣa te vistareṇoktas taptakumbho mayā pitaḥ
In that great oil, made to whirl in eddies, the sinners are churned. Thus have I, your father, described to you in detail the (hell) Taptakumbha.
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FAQs
The passage closes by emphasizing completeness and certainty: karmic results ‘churn’ the doer until the force of the deed is spent, motivating dharmic restraint and atonement.
A moral-educational episode (upākhyāna-like didactic material) supporting dharma; not one of the five lakṣaṇas.
Whirlpools represent saṃsāric turbulence; the ‘great oil’ is the medium of accumulated vāsanās, in which the psyche is agitated until clarity is regained through purification.