Shloka 11
Vaitaraṇī: Torments of the Sinful, Sins Enumerated, and the Vaitaraṇī Go-dāna Rite
विश्वासप्रतिपन्नानां स्वामिमित्रतपस्विनाम् / स्त्रीबालविकलादीनां वधं कृत्वा पतन्ति हि / पच्यन्ते तत्र मध्ये तु क्रन्दमानास्तु पापिनः
viśvāsapratipannānāṃ svāmimitratapasvinām / strībālavikalādīnāṃ vadhaṃ kṛtvā patanti hi / pacyante tatra madhye tu krandamānāstu pāpinaḥ
Sinners who slay those who have placed their trust in them—such as their own master, friends, or ascetics—and who also kill women, children, the disabled, and others, surely fall into hell. There, amid that torment, the wicked are cooked, crying out in anguish.
Lord Vishnu (in discourse to Garuda/Vinata-putra)
Afterlife Stage: Naraka
Concept: Harming the trusting and the vulnerable (guru-like figures, dependents) produces severe papa leading to naraka.
Vedantic Theme: Karma-phala-niyati (inevitability of results); adharma as bondage-producing action.
Application: Protect dependents; never exploit trust; cultivate ahiṃsā and guardianship toward women, children, disabled, and ascetics.
Primary Rasa: bhayanaka
Secondary Rasa: karuna
Type: hell-realm (naraka)
Related Themes: Garuda Purana Pretakalpa: catalogues of narakas and papa-karmas (adjacent verses in 2.47); Garuda Purana: Yama’s punishments for hiṃsā, guru-droha, and strī-vadha themes recur across Pretakalpa sections
FAQs
This verse frames such killing—especially of those under one’s protection or those who are vulnerable—as a grave adharma that leads to Naraka, emphasizing protective duty and non-violence as core ethical obligations.
By naming victims who relied on the killer’s trust (master, friend, ascetic) and the defenseless (women, children, disabled), it links betrayal and cruelty to a specific post-mortem fall into Yama’s punishments where the sinner suffers intense torment.
Do not exploit trust or power over dependents; uphold protection of the vulnerable, practice ahimsa, and treat guardianship—family, social, or professional—as a dharmic responsibility.