Shloka 35
परस्वहरणाशौचं देवतानां च कुत्सनम् / निकृत्य बन्धनं नॄणां कार्पण्यञ्च नृणां वधः / उपलक्षणाद्विजानीयान्मुक्तानां नरकादनु
parasvaharaṇāśaucaṃ devatānāṃ ca kutsanam / nikṛtya bandhanaṃ nṝṇāṃ kārpaṇyañca nṛṇāṃ vadhaḥ / upalakṣaṇādvijānīyānmuktānāṃ narakādanu
Stealing what belongs to others, impurity, reviling the deities, deceit, binding or imprisoning people, miserliness, and the killing of humans—by such indicative marks one should understand the acts from which beings are released after undergoing hell.
Lord Vishnu (speaking to Garuda/Vinata-putra)
Afterlife Stage: Naraka
Concept: Specific pāpas lead to naraka-experience; after undergoing the fruit, beings are released—karma is finite when exhausted.
Vedantic Theme: Karma as a binding force with determinate fruition; suffering as a purgative exhaustion of pāpa (without implying mokṣa).
Application: Maintain purity and integrity; do not revile sacred realities; avoid coercion and exploitation; practice generosity; uphold nonviolence and respect for life and liberty.
Primary Rasa: bhayanaka
Secondary Rasa: bibhatsa
Type: otherworldly realm
Related Themes: Garuda Purana Pretakalpa: naraka lists for theft, deva-nindā, himsā, deceit, and coercion; Garuda Purana: discussions on release after experiencing karmaphala
FAQs
This verse groups major adharma—stealing, impurity, reviling deities, deceit, unlawful confinement, miserliness, and killing—as key karmic causes connected with naraka, teaching moral restraint through afterlife accountability.
It implies that beings undergo consequences for specific acts, and after experiencing the appropriate result, they are ‘released’—the verse frames these sins as identifying markers for the karmic basis of such post-naraka release.
Avoid exploitation (theft, fraud), harm (violence, unlawful confinement), and irreverence toward sacred values; cultivate cleanliness and generosity—these directly counter the listed causes of severe karmic suffering.