Shloka 93
Āśauca, Daśāha Piṇḍa-Rites, Vṛṣotsarga, Sāpiṇḍīkaraṇa, and the Yama-mārga
Path to Yama
भक्ष्यमाणे तथैवाङ्गे भिद्यमाने च दारुणम् / छिद्यमाने चिरतरं जन्तुर्दुः खमवाप्नुते
bhakṣyamāṇe tathaivāṅge bhidyamāne ca dāruṇam / chidyamāne cirataraṃ janturduḥ khamavāpnute
When the limbs are being eaten, when they are cruelly split apart, and when they are cut and torn for a long time, the embodied being falls into intense suffering.
Lord Vishnu (narrating to Garuda/Vinata-putra)
Afterlife Stage: Naraka
Concept: Karmic retribution can manifest as intense, prolonged suffering experienced by the embodied being (jantu) in punitive states.
Vedantic Theme: Bhoga (experience of pleasure/pain) as karma-phala; the subtle experiencer persists through changing conditions.
Application: Use the contemplation of consequences to restrain cruelty and vice; adopt prāyaścitta and devotional remembrance to purify conduct.
Primary Rasa: bibhatsa
Secondary Rasa: bhayanaka
Related Themes: Garuda Purana Pretakalpa: naraka-torments described with bodily imagery; continuation into the sixteen puras and further punishments.
FAQs
This verse emphasizes that karmic consequences can manifest as prolonged, embodied suffering after death, serving as a moral warning to restrain harmful actions.
It depicts the jīva as still experiencing pain through a subtle, post-death condition (preta-state), where karmic forces lead to terrifying torments under Yama’s order.
Cultivate non-violence, self-control, and dharmic conduct; the text frames ethical living (and proper rites for the departed) as safeguards against post-death distress.