Shloka 28
Yama-mārga (Adhvan) and the Courts of Yama: Vaivasvatī and Chitragupta
न मुह्यति कदाचित् स सुकृते दुष्कृते ऽपि वा / यद्येनोपार्जितं यावत् तावद्वै वेत्ति तस्य तत्
na muhyati kadācit sa sukṛte duṣkṛte 'pi vā / yadyenopārjitaṃ yāvat tāvadvai vetti tasya tat
Er wird niemals verblendet—weder durch Verdienst noch durch Sünde. Welche Karma er auch angesammelt hat, in eben diesem Maß erkennt er es wahrhaft als das Seine.
Lord Vishnu (in instruction to Garuda/Vinata-putra)
Afterlife Stage: Yamaloka Journey
Concept: A being is not deluded by punya or papa; one knows one’s own accumulated karma exactly to its measure.
Vedantic Theme: Karma-phala-niyati and svātma-sākṣitva (the inescapable witnessing/ownership of one’s deeds), supporting vairāgya and moral responsibility.
Application: Daily self-audit of actions and intentions; cultivate non-self-deception about ‘good’ and ‘bad’ deeds and accept consequences as one’s own.
Primary Rasa: shanta
Related Themes: Garuda Purana Pretakalpa: Chitragupta’s record-keeping and Yama’s judgment motifs (adjacent verses in 2.33); Garuda Purana: karma-phala certainty and post-mortem accounting themes across Pretakalpa sections
FAQs
This verse stresses that the jīva is not blindly confused about its moral record; it recognizes its earned merit and sin, which supports the Purana’s teaching that post-death experiences correspond to one’s own accumulated actions.
It implies continuity of moral cognition: the soul carries an inner knowing of its sukṛta and duṣkṛta, aligning with the Garuda Purana’s broader account of judgment-like experiences where results arise from one’s own karma rather than randomness.
Live with accountability: treat every action as something you will ‘own’ and understand later; cultivate sukṛta through dharma and reduce duṣkṛta through restraint, confession, and corrective conduct.