Shloka 9
नरक-निर्णयः, पाप-कर्म-फल-व्यवस्था, प्रायश्चित्त-क्रमः, तथा हरि-स्मरण-परमत्वम्
सुरापो ब्रह्महा हर्ता सुवर्णस्य च सूकरे प्रयाति नरके यश् च तैः संसर्गम् उपैति वै
surāpo brahmahā hartā suvarṇasya ca sūkare prayāti narake yaś ca taiḥ saṃsargam upaiti vai
Der Trinker von Rauschmitteln, der Mörder eines Brāhmaṇa und der Dieb von Gold gehen in die Hölle; ebenso der, der wissentlich mit solchen Frevlern enge Gemeinschaft pflegt.
Sage Parāśara (in discourse to Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: How specific transgressions—including association (saṃsarga) with offenders—produce naraka results.
Teaching: Ethical
Quality: revealing
Concept: Surā-pāna, brahma-hatyā, and suvarṇa-haraṇa lead to naraka, and deliberate intimate association with such offenders shares in their demerit.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Avoid enabling networks of harm (substance abuse, exploitation, theft); cultivate sat-saṅga and ethical community standards.
Vishishtadvaita: Moral agency is relational within the Lord’s real world: saṅga (company) shapes karma, affirming an embodied, socially embedded dharma.
Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman
Bhakti Type: Shanta
FAQs
This verse teaches that moral and spiritual consequences extend beyond direct action: intimate companionship with grave offenders is itself treated as a dharmic fault leading to suffering.
Parāśara lists archetypal mahāpātakas and adds that aligning oneself with such acts through deliberate association implicates a person in the same downward karmic trajectory.
Even when Vishnu is not named, the teaching presumes Vishnu as the upholder of ṛta/dharma: ethical law functions as His cosmic governance, steering beings toward upliftment or decline.