Shloka 46
अदत्तदानाच्च भवेद्दरिद्रो दरिद्रभावाच्च करोतिपापम् / पापप्रभावान्नरकं प्रयाति पुनर्दरिद्रः पुनरेव पापी
adattadānācca bhaveddaridro daridrabhāvācca karotipāpam / pāpaprabhāvānnarakaṃ prayāti punardaridraḥ punareva pāpī
By failing to give charity (dāna), one becomes poor; from poverty one commits sin. By the force of sin one goes to hell; and then again one returns poor, and again indeed a sinner.
Lord Vishnu (teaching Garuda/Vinata-putra)
Afterlife Stage: Naraka
Concept: A causal chain links miserliness to deprivation, deprivation to further wrongdoing, and wrongdoing to naraka—forming a samsaric loop.
Vedantic Theme: Bondage through karma-vāsanā: unwholesome tendencies reinforce conditions that generate further papa; liberation requires breaking the chain through sattvic action.
Application: Counter scarcity-mindset with disciplined giving; build ethical safeguards during hardship; seek community support to avoid desperation-driven wrongdoing.
Primary Rasa: bhayanaka
Secondary Rasa: karuna
Type: infernal realm
Related Themes: Garuda Purana: naraka descriptions and karma-phala causality in Pretakalpa passages; Garuda Purana: dana as a purifier and protector against durgati
FAQs
This verse frames dana as a karmic safeguard: withholding charity initiates a downward chain—poverty, then sinful acts, then naraka—showing that giving is essential for preventing future suffering.
It presents a cause-and-effect sequence where papa leads to naraka; after experiencing that consequence, the jiva returns to embodied life still burdened by tendencies that recreate poverty and sin, forming a repeating cycle.
Practice regular, capacity-based giving (food, money, service) and ethical livelihood, so hardship does not push one into harmful choices; break the cycle by cultivating dana and restraint.