Shloka 79
An exposition on the fruits of charity and on entry into a body
Garbhotpatti, Piṇḍa-śarīra, and Antya-kāla-kriyā
कृष्यमाणश्च याम्यैः स नरके ऽपि च यात्यधः / पुनश्च गर्भाज्जन्म स्यान्मरणं दुष्करं तथा
kṛṣyamāṇaśca yāmyaiḥ sa narake 'pi ca yātyadhaḥ / punaśca garbhājjanma syānmaraṇaṃ duṣkaraṃ tathā
Dragged along by Yama’s messengers, he falls down into hell. Then again he must take birth from a womb, and likewise death becomes hard to endure.
Lord Vishnu (in dialogue with Garuda/Vainateya)
Afterlife Stage: Naraka
Concept: Papa-karma leads to being seized by Yamadutas, suffering in naraka, and continued samsaric recurrence (punarjanma) with repeated death.
Vedantic Theme: Karma-bandhana and punarjanma; samsara as beginningless cycle sustained by deeds and tendencies; urgency for shreyas over preyas.
Application: Live with accountability: avoid harmful actions, practice prayaschitta where appropriate, cultivate bhakti and sattva to reduce papa and fear of afterlife consequences.
Primary Rasa: bhayanaka
Secondary Rasa: karuna
Type: otherworldly court and hell-region
Related Themes: Garuda Purana Pretakalpa: Yamaduta descriptions and naraka accounts (Pretakalpa sections on the yama-marga and hells); Garuda Purana 2.32.80–81 (samsara-cakra and moksha exhortation as immediate continuation)
FAQs
This verse highlights Yamya agents as the karmic enforcers who seize and drag the wrongdoer toward naraka, emphasizing that post-death experience follows one’s deeds.
It presents a sequence: the soul is forcibly taken by Yama’s servants, undergoes a hellish descent, and then returns to embodied existence—showing that punishment and rebirth can follow unresolved karma.
Live with restraint and dharma, reduce harmful actions that create fear and suffering after death, and support ethical conduct and purificatory practices to lessen negative karmic consequences.