Shloka 49
आत्यन्तिक-लयहेतुः: तापत्रय-विवेचनम् तथा ‘भगवान्/वासुदेव’ शब्दार्थः
Threefold Suffering and the Path to Final Liberation; Meaning of Bhagavān and Vāsudeva
नरके यानि दुःखानि पापहेतूद्भवानि वै प्राप्यन्ते नारकैर् विप्र तेषां संख्या न विद्यते
narake yāni duḥkhāni pāpahetūdbhavāni vai prāpyante nārakair vipra teṣāṃ saṃkhyā na vidyate
يا براهمن، إن الآلام التي تُذاق في الجحيم—الناشئة عن أسباب الخطيئة والتي يعانيها أهل ناركا—لا تُحصى؛ وعددها لا يُعرَف.
Sage Parāśara (addressing Maitreya as 'vipra')
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Extent and variety of naraka sufferings arising from sinful causes
Teaching: Ethical
Quality: authoritative
Cosmic Hierarchy: Lokas
Concept: Sufferings in Naraka, born of sinful causes, are innumerable—signaling that pāpa has endlessly varied repercussions.
Vedantic Theme: Karma
Application: Adopt continuous self-examination (svādhyāya), confession/atonement (prāyaścitta), and sustained dharmic habits rather than occasional virtue.
Vishishtadvaita: The moral universe is intelligible and administered; the diversity of karmaphala implies an ordered, law-governed cosmos under Īśvara.
FAQs
This verse frames Naraka as the karmic consequence of sin: sufferings arise from pāpa and are presented as innumerable, emphasizing moral accountability within cosmic order.
He explicitly states that the pains of hell are “pāpa-hetūdbhava”—born from sinful causes—showing a cause-and-effect ethic where actions mature into corresponding experiences.
Even when Vishnu is not named in the verse, the teaching presumes a divinely ordered universe under the Supreme Reality—where dharma governs outcomes and karmic law operates within Vishnu’s sovereign cosmic order.