Shloka 24
Svargārohaṇa-parva Adhyāya 2 — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Inquiry for His Kin and the Vision of a Punitive Realm
करम्भवालुकास्तप्ता आयसीश्व शिला:पृथक् । लोहकुम्भी श्व॒ तैलस्य क्वाथ्यमाना: समन्ततः
karambha-vālukās taptā āyasīś ca śilāḥ pṛthak | loha-kumbhī ca tailasya kvāthyamānāḥ samantataḥ ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana sprach: „An manchen Orten liegen Haufen von Sand, mit Brei (karambha) vermengt, glühend heiß; anderswo sind gewaltige Eisenplatten gesondert ausgelegt. Und ringsum wird Öl in eisernen Kesseln zum Sieden gebracht.“ Das Bild verdichtet die Stimmung der Vergeltung: Der Weg voraus erscheint als Landschaft strafender Hitze und Qual, als Mahnung an die Folgen von Adharma und angesammeltem Unrecht.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse reinforces the Mahābhārata’s ethical vision that actions bear consequences: adharma and moral failure culminate in suffering, portrayed through vivid punitive imagery. The narrative uses sensory detail (heat, iron, boiling oil) to make karmic retribution emotionally and morally tangible.
Vaiśampāyana describes a terrifying environment encountered on the way—scorching sand and gruel-like hot deposits, iron slabs, and iron cauldrons of boiling oil all around—setting the tone for a passage that depicts ordeal and the harsh landscape associated with posthumous judgment and suffering.