Shloka 69
Svapnādhāya (Dream-Chapter): Causes, Forms, Nourishment, and Liberation of Pretas
अयाज्ययाजकश्चैव याज्यानां च विवर्जकः / कारुभिश्च रतो नित्यं स प्रेतो जायते नरः
ayājyayājakaścaiva yājyānāṃ ca vivarjakaḥ / kārubhiśca rato nityaṃ sa preto jāyate naraḥ
A man who performs sacrificial rites for those unfit to be served, who refuses to officiate for those who are fit, and who is ever devoted to degrading and improper occupations—such a one is born as a preta after death.
Lord Vishnu (narrating to Garuda)
Afterlife Stage: Pretayoni
Concept: Misapplication of priestly/ritual duty—serving the unfit, rejecting the fit, and clinging to improper occupations—produces preta-bhava.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma as purifier of antaḥkaraṇa; adharma as bondage producing lower post-death states.
Application: Perform one’s professional/ritual responsibilities with discernment and integrity; avoid enabling unethical patrons; align livelihood with dharma.
Primary Rasa: bibhatsa
Secondary Rasa: bhayanaka
Related Themes: Garuda Purana Pretakalpa: enumerations of adharma leading to preta-yoni (same chapter sequence); Garuda Purana: sections on brāhmaṇa-dharma and yājaka-niyama (elsewhere in Dharma-kāṇḍa portions)
FAQs
This verse stresses that dharma governs not only rituals but also who should be served by them; violating eligibility—by serving the unfit or rejecting the fit—creates grave karma linked here to preta-birth.
It connects unethical ritual conduct and wrongful livelihood with an after-death state: the person becomes a preta, implying a disturbed post-mortem condition rather than a settled ancestral (pitṛ) status.
Maintain integrity in religious/ethical duties, avoid transactional or exploitative spirituality, and choose livelihoods and services aligned with dharma rather than convenience or profit.