Shloka 26
Entry into Yama’s Abode; Nature, Causes, and Signs of the Preta-State
सुवृष्टौ कृषिनाशश्च व्यवहारो विनश्यति / लोके कलहकारी च सा पीडा प्रेतसम्भवा
suvṛṣṭau kṛṣināśaśca vyavahāro vinaśyati / loke kalahakārī ca sā pīḍā pretasambhavā
When agriculture is ruined despite good rain, business collapses, and quarrels arise in society—such suffering comes from a preta.
Lord Vishnu (in discourse to Garuda/Vinata-putra)
Afterlife Stage: Pretayoni
Concept: Preta-affliction can manifest as collective disturbances—ruined agriculture despite rain, breakdown of transactions, and quarrels.
Vedantic Theme: Interconnectedness of adharma and loka-vyavahara; subtle causes (adrishta) producing visible effects.
Application: Address social conflict with dharmic reconciliation; restore ritual order and community ethics; perform protective rites and shraddha where tradition prescribes to pacify preta-related disturbances.
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: bhayanaka
Type: settlement
Related Themes: Garuda Purana Pretakalpa: descriptions of preta-pida affecting households and communities; omens and disturbances attributed to pretas
FAQs
It states that certain disruptive sufferings—like crop loss even during heavy rains and the collapse of normal social dealings—are described as afflictions arising from a preta (restless departed spirit).
It links the unsettled state of a preta to tangible disturbances in human life—economic disorder (vyavahāra-nāśa) and social conflict (kalaha)—showing an interaction between post-death unrest and communal harmony.
Maintain social harmony and dharmic order, and when persistent unexplained discord or disruption is felt, follow traditional śrāddha/ancestral rites and ethical living to support peace for the departed and stability for the living.