Shloka 12
तत्रासौ निरयं प्राप्तो वर्णभ्रष्टो बहिष्कृत: | ब्रह्मलोकात् परिश्रष्ट: शूद्र: समुपजायते,ब्राह्मण-जातिका पुरुष शूद्र-कर्म करनेके कारण अपने वर्णसे भ्रष्ट होकर जातिसे बहिष्कृत हो जाता है और मृत्युके पश्चात् वह ब्रह्मलोककी प्राप्तिसे वंचित होकर नरकमें पड़ता है। इसके बाद वह शूद्रकी योनिमें जन्म ग्रहण करता है
tatrāsau nirayaṁ prāpto varṇabhraṣṭo bahiṣkṛtaḥ | brahmalokāt pariśraṣṭaḥ śūdraḥ samupajāyate ||
There, having fallen into hell, he becomes one who has slipped from his ordained social order and is cast out. Deprived of access to Brahmaloka, he is thereafter born again as a Śūdra. The verse frames this as the ethical consequence of abandoning one’s prescribed duties and conduct, presenting moral causality (karma and rebirth) as the regulator of social and spiritual standing.
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that abandoning one’s prescribed dharma and conduct leads to spiritual and social downfall: loss of higher attainments (like Brahmaloka), suffering in hell, and an inferior rebirth. It presents karma as the mechanism linking ethical deviation to future consequences.
Maheśvara describes the post-mortem fate of a person who has become varṇabhraṣṭa and socially excluded: he falls into niraya, is cut off from Brahmaloka, and is subsequently reborn as a Śūdra.