Shloka 84
Dāna as Prāyaścitta; Deathbed Gifts; Antyeṣṭi Procedures; Nārāyaṇa-bali for Untimely Deaths
कर्मभिः स्वशरीरोत्थैस्तत्र का परिदेवना / गन्त्री वसुमती नाशमुदधिर्दैवतानि च
karmabhiḥ svaśarīrotthaistatra kā paridevanā / gantrī vasumatī nāśamudadhirdaivatāni ca
When one’s own deeds—born of one’s very body—are bearing fruit there, what room is left for lamentation? The earth that bears all beings, destruction, the ocean, and even the deities themselves are subject to this very order.
Lord Vishnu (in discourse to Garuda/Vinata-putra)
Concept: Suffering/experience ‘there’ arises from one’s own embodied actions; lamentation is futile against karma’s maturation and the universal law of dissolution.
Vedantic Theme: Karma-phala-niyama within saṃsāra; acceptance (prasāda-buddhi) as a step toward inner freedom.
Application: Own consequences: reflect on choices, cultivate ethical action now, and meet outcomes with steadiness rather than complaint; use adversity as impetus for dharmic correction.
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: vira
Related Themes: Garuda Purana: karma-phala explanations in Pretakalpa and dharma sections (general motif)
FAQs
It states that post-death experience is driven by one’s own embodied actions; therefore results must be faced, making mere lamentation ineffective.
It frames the preta’s journey as karma-governed: what the individual did through the body becomes the determining force ‘there’ (after death), not external pleading or grief.
Focus on ethical conduct and dharmic choices now; cultivate detachment and responsibility, since outcomes arise from one’s own actions rather than sorrow or blame.