Shloka 5
Karma-vipāka: Truth, Yama’s Judgment, and the Marks of Sin in Rebirth
एवन्तु श्रोतुमिच्छामि जायन्ते पापिनो यथा / येन कर्मविपाकेन यथा नियमभाग्भवेत्
evantu śrotumicchāmi jāyante pāpino yathā / yena karmavipākena yathā niyamabhāgbhavet
Thus I wish to hear: how sinners are born, and by what ripening of karma one comes to receive the allotted rule and restraint of destiny.
Garuda (Vinata-putra), questioning Lord Vishnu
Afterlife Stage: Pretayoni
Concept: How pāpin (sinners) are born and how karma ripens into one’s allotted conditions (niyama-bhāga).
Vedantic Theme: Causal order (niyati) as karma under Īśvara’s governance; bondage through vāsanā and past actions; impetus toward seeking liberation from the cycle.
Application: Adopt self-audit and restraint to avoid pāpa; understand constraints as consequences, then respond with corrective action (prāyaścitta, sattvic living, devotion).
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: bhayanaka
Related Themes: Garuda Purana: sections detailing pāpa causes, narakas, and rebirth indicators; karma-vipāka explanations preceding/within Pretakalpa narratives
FAQs
This verse frames the teaching that birth as a sinner and one’s life-conditions arise from karma’s matured results, making karmavipāka the key explanatory principle for fate and suffering described in the Preta Kanda.
By asking how sinners are born and how karma ripens, the verse sets up the doctrine that the soul’s post-death experiences and subsequent embodiment follow an orderly moral causation (niyama) rather than randomness.
Treat actions as seeds with inevitable outcomes: cultivate restraint (niyama), avoid harmful deeds, and adopt ethical discipline so future consequences—here and beyond—become more favorable.