Vamana Purana — Karmic Causes of Narakas, Shloka 37

Karmic Causes of Narakas and the Irremediability of Ingratitude (Kṛtaghna-doṣa)

Devanagari script

पृष्ठमांसाशिनो मूढास्तथैवोत्कोचजीविनः क्षिप्यन्ते वृकभक्षे ते नरके रजनीचर

Transliteration

pṛṣṭhamāṃsāśino mūḍhāstathaivotkocajīvinaḥ kṣipyante vṛkabhakṣe te narake rajanīcara

Translation

يا سائرَ الليل، إنّ الحمقى الذين يأكلون لحم الظهر، وكذلك الذين يحيون بالرشوة (utkocha)، يُقذَفون في الجحيم المسمّى Vṛkabhakṣa.

Word by Word

• pṛṣṭha-māṃsa-āśinaḥ: eaters of back-flesh
• pṛṣṭha-māṃsa-āśinaḥ: Karta (कर्ता/subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pṛṣṭha (प्रातिपदिक) + māṃsa (प्रातिपदिक) + āśin (प्रातिपदिक; from √aś ‘to eat’)
• Form: Tatpuruṣa (object-determinative), Masculine, Nominative plural

• mūḍhāḥ: the deluded/fools
• mūḍhāḥ: Karta (कर्ता/subject, appositional)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mūḍha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative plural

• tathā: thus, likewise
• tathā: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tathā (अव्यय)
• Form: Avyaya, adverb (क्रियाविशेषण)

• eva: indeed, just
• eva: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: Avyaya, emphatic particle (निश्चयार्थक/अवधारण)

• utkoca-jīvinaḥ: those who live by bribes
• utkoca-jīvinaḥ: Karta (कर्ता/subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: utkoca (प्रातिपदिक) + jīvin (प्रातिपदिक; from √jīv)
• Form: Tatpuruṣa, Masculine, Nominative plural

• kṣipyante: are thrown, are cast
• kṣipyante: Kriyā (क्रिया/predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √kṣip (क्षिप् धातु)
• Form: Present tense/laṭ, 3rd person plural (बहुवचन), Ātmanepada (आत्मनेपद), passive sense (कर्मणि प्रयोग)

• vṛka-bhakṣe: in the ‘wolf-devouring’ (hell/region)
• vṛka-bhakṣe: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण/location)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vṛka (प्रातिपदिक) + bhakṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Tatpuruṣa; Neuter, Locative (सप्तमी) singular

• te: they
• te: Karta (कर्ता/subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Pronoun, Masculine, Nominative plural

• narake: in hell
• narake: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण/location)
• Type: Noun
• Root: naraka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Locative singular

• rajanī-cara: O night-wanderer (address)
• rajanī-cara: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन/vocative)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rajanī (प्रातिपदिक) + cara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Tatpuruṣa (rajanīyām caraḥ), Vocative (सम्बोधन) singular, Masculine

Speakers

• Not explicit in the provided excerpt (often framed as Pulastya instructing Nārada in the Vāmana Purāṇa)

Key Themes

• Dharma
• Karma-phala
• Naraka (hells)
• Social ethics (corruption/bribery)
• Ahimsa/violence critique

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

{ "primaryRasa": "bhayanaka", "secondaryRasa": "raudra", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The verse condemns two forms of adharma: (1) cruel, dehumanizing violence symbolized by eating flesh in an especially brutal manner, and (2) institutional corruption—living off bribes. Both are treated as grave moral failures that lead to severe post-mortem consequences, reinforcing that livelihood (ājīvikā) must be dhārmic.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana?

This passage aligns most closely with Dharma/Karma-phala instruction rather than the five classic purāṇic marks; it is not sarga/pratisarga/vaṃśa/vaṃśānucarita/manvantara narration. If forced into a purāṇic taxonomy, it functions as didactic material attached to broader narrative frames (often embedded within manvantara/vaṃśānucarita contexts, but here primarily ethical-penal teaching).

What is the symbolic significance?

‘Vṛkabhakṣa’ (wolf-devouring/devoured-by-wolves) symbolizes retributive reversal: those who prey upon others (through violence or corrupt extraction) become prey. The imagery encodes a moral inversion—harm returned in kind.