Shloka 95

Adhyaya 14 — The Messenger of Yama Explains Karmic Retribution and the Causes of Naraka Torments

Sanskrit

नरकप्रच्युतानि यानि यैर्यैरिहितपातकैः ।

प्रयान्ति योनिजातानि तन्मे निगदतः शृणु ॥

Transliteration

narakapracyutā yāni yair yair vihitapātakaiḥ /

prayānti yonijātāni tan me nigadataḥ śṛṇu

Translation

Hört von mir, wie ich verkünde: Nachdem sie aus der Hölle gefallen sind, werden sie je nach den besonderen Sünden, die sie begangen haben, in welche Geburten und in welche verschiedenen Leiber sie eingehen.

Word by Word

• naraka-pracyutāni: fallen down from hell (released from hell)
• naraka-pracyutāni: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: naraka+pracyuta (प्रातिपदिक; naraka + pra-√cyu (च्यु धातु) क्त)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Nominative (प्रथमा/1), Plural (बहुवचन); past passive participle (क्त) used adjectivally

• yāni: which (beings)
• yāni: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (यद् सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Nominative (प्रथमा/1), Plural (बहुवचन); relative pronoun

• yaiḥ: by which
• yaiḥ: Karaṇa/Hetu (करण/हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (यद् सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine/Neuter (पुं/नपुंसक), Instrumental (तृतीया/3), Plural (बहुवचन); relative pronoun

• yaiḥ: by whichever (sins)
• yaiḥ: Karaṇa/Hetu (करण/हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (यद् सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine/Neuter (पुं/नपुंसक), Instrumental (तृतीया/3), Plural (बहुवचन); repetition for distributive sense

• vihita-pātakaiḥ: by the prescribed/committed sins
• vihita-pātakaiḥ: Karaṇa/Hetu (करण/हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vihita+pātaka (प्रातिपदिक; vi-√dhā (धा धातु) क्त + pātaka)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Instrumental (तृतीया/3), Plural (बहुवचन)

• prayānti: go forth / proceed
• prayānti: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra-√yā (या धातु)
• Form: Present tense (लट्), 3rd person (प्रथमपुरुष), Plural (बहुवचन), Parasmaipada (परस्मैपद)

• yoni-jātāni: births in various wombs/species
• yoni-jātāni: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yoni+jāta (प्रातिपदिक; yoni + √jan (जन् धातु) क्त)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Accusative (द्वितीया/2), Plural (बहुवचन); PPP (क्त) used substantively

• tat: that (account)
• tat: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (तद् सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Accusative (द्वितीया/2), Singular (एकवचन)

• me: of me / to me
• me: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध; षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (अस्मद् सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Genitive (षष्ठी/6), Singular (एकवचन)

• nigadataḥ: while (I am) telling
• nigadataḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ni-√gad (गद् धातु)
• Form: Present active participle (शतृ), Genitive (षष्ठी/6), Singular (एकवचन), Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग); ‘of (me) speaking’

• śṛṇu: listen
• śṛṇu: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √śru (श्रु धातु)
• Form: Imperative (लोट्), 2nd person (मध्यमपुरुष), Singular (एकवचन), Parasmaipada (परस्मैपद)

Speakers

• Yamakiṅkara introducing a catalog of karmic rebirths

Verse Rasa

{ "primaryRasa": "shanta", "secondaryRasa": "bhakti", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

Primary Deities

• Yama

Key Themes

• Karma
• Rebirth taxonomy
• Moral causality
• Didactic catalog

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Actions are portrayed as specifying not only suffering but also the form of future embodiment. The moral universe is ordered: choices shape destiny in precise ways.

How does this fit the Pancalakṣaṇa (5 characteristics)?

Didactic dharma material; not one of the five canonical purāṇic marks.

What is the esoteric significance?

‘Yoni’ can be read as a psychological state as well as a biological one: repeated habits generate corresponding ‘forms’ of experience and limitation.