Shloka 15

Vaitaraṇī: Torments of the Sinful, Sins Enumerated, and the Vaitaraṇī Go-dāna Rite

Devanagari script

कथाभङ्गकरश्चैव स्वयन्दत्ता पहारकः / क्षेत्रसेतुविभेदी च परदारप्रधर्षकः

Transliteration

kathābhaṅgakaraścaiva svayandattā pahārakaḥ / kṣetrasetuvibhedī ca paradārapradharṣakaḥ

Translation

Und ferner: wer Versprechen und Abmachungen bricht; wer zurücknimmt, was er aus eigenem Willen gegeben hat; wer Feldgrenzen und Dämme aufreißt; und wer die Frau eines anderen schändet.

Word by Word

• kathā-bhaṅga-karaḥ: one who breaks off conversations
• kathā-bhaṅga-karaḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kathā + bhaṅga + kara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; बहुपद-तत्पुरुष (determinative): ‘kathāyāḥ bhaṅgaṃ karoti’

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय-अव्यय (Conjunction)

• eva: indeed
• eva: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Emphasis)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: अवधारण-अव्यय (Emphatic particle)

• svayam-dattā: self-appointed giver (gives on his own)
• svayam-dattā: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: svayam (अव्यय) + datta (√dā, क्त) (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा, एकवचन; अव्ययीभाव: ‘svayam’ + ‘datta’ = self-given (one who gives by himself/unauthorized giver)

• pahārakaḥ: robber/one who strikes and steals
• pahārakaḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pahāraka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• kṣetra-setu-vibhedī: breaker of field boundaries/embankments
• kṣetra-setu-vibhedī: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṣetra + setu + vibhedin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: ‘kṣetrasya setoḥ vibhedī’ (breaker of field-boundary/embankment)

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय-अव्यय (Conjunction)

• para-dāra-pradharṣakaḥ: violator of another’s wife
• para-dāra-pradharṣakaḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: para + dāra + pradharṣaka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: ‘parasya dārān pradharṣayati’

Speaker

Lord Vishnu (in instruction to Garuda/Vinata-putra)

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Breaking agreements, retracting voluntary gifts, breaching field boundaries/embankments, and violating another’s wife are serious breaches of dharma.

Vedantic Theme: Dharma as social-ecological order; adharma fractures trust and multiplies karmic bondage.

Application: Honor agreements; do not claw back gifts; respect property and water-management boundaries; uphold sexual ethics and non-violence.

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: raudra

Secondary Rasa: bhayanaka

Cross References

Related Themes: Garuda Purana Pretakalpa: catalogues of deceit, theft-by-retraction, and para-dāra offenses recur

FAQs

What is the importance of listing sins in the Garuda Purana?

This verse functions as a dharma-warning: it names specific actions (breach of trust, taking back gifts, boundary-destruction, and sexual violation) that generate heavy pāpa and thus attract Yama’s punishments in the afterlife narrative.

How does this verse explain the path of the soul after death?

In the Preta Kanda framework, such grave misconduct is presented as a cause for the preta to face judgment and suffering in Yama’s domain, emphasizing moral causality (karma) rather than random fate.

Practical application of this wisdom today?

Keep your word, never reclaim or misuse what you freely gave, respect property boundaries and public works like embankments, and uphold sexual ethics—these are portrayed as core safeguards of social order and personal karmic well-being.