Shloka 17
Adhyaya 15 — Karmic Retribution: Rebirths After Naraka and the King’s Compassion in Hell
अकृतज्ञोऽधमः पुंसां विमुक्तो नरकान्नरः ।
कृतघ्रः कृमिकः कीटः पतङ्गो वृश्चिकस्तथा ॥
akṛtajño 'dhamaḥ puṃsāṃ vimukto narakān naraḥ | kṛtaghraḥ kṛmikaḥ kīṭaḥ pataṅgo vṛścikas tathā ||
Der Undankbare — der Niedrigste unter den Menschen — wird, wenn er aus der Hölle entlassen ist, als Wurm, als Insekt, als Motte/geflügeltes Insekt und auch als Skorpion geboren.
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FAQs
Gratitude is treated as a foundational dharmic virtue: acknowledging received help sustains social and moral order. Ingratitude is portrayed as a corrosive vice that reduces one’s future condition to painful, fearful, or harmful forms (e.g., scorpion), matching the inner sting of betrayal.
Ancillary dharma teaching (not one of the five core lakṣaṇas). It functions as ethical reinforcement through vivid karmic imagery.
The ‘sting’ (vṛścika) symbolizes reactive harm and hidden resentment—traits often associated with ingratitude. The verse implies that inner dispositions shape the subtle body and, consequently, the next embodiment.