Vamana Purana — Karmic Causes of Narakas, Shloka 2
Karmic Causes of Narakas and the Irremediability of Ingratitude (Kṛtaghna-doṣa)
ऋषय ऊचुः कर्मणा येन येनेह यान्ति शालकटङ्कट स्वकर्मफलभोगार्थं नरकान् मे शृणुष्व तान्
ṛṣaya ūcuḥ karmaṇā yena yeneha yānti śālakaṭaṅkaṭa svakarmaphalabhogārthaṃ narakān me śṛṇuṣva tān
Die Weisen sprachen: „Durch welche Handlungen auch immer man hier (in dieser Welt) in jene Zustände gelangt, o Śālakaṭaṅkaṭa, höre von mir über jene Höllen—(die man betritt) um die Früchte der eigenen Taten zu erfahren.“
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FAQs
The governing principle is personal moral accountability: one undergoes results that are ‘one’s own’ (sva-karma). Punishment is not arbitrary; it is framed as experiential fruition (bhoga) of causally connected deeds.
This is dharma/karma exposition embedded in dialogue—ancillary instruction supporting Purāṇic religious education. It does not directly instantiate the five defining topics but functions as normative teaching often interwoven with them.
The phrase ‘svakarmaphalabhogārtham’ signals a cosmic moral order: the universe is intelligible as an ethical field where experiences correspond to prior choices. Naraka becomes not merely a place, but a symbol of consequence and moral pedagogy.