Shloka 21

Go-apahāra (Cattle Theft), Go-dāna (Cow-Gift), and Suvarṇa-dakṣiṇā (Gold Fee): Karmic Consequence and Purificatory Merit

Devanagari script

यमस्तु पूजयित्वा मां ततो वचनमत्रवीत्‌ | नान्‍्त: संख्यायते राजंस्तव पुण्यस्य कर्मण:,“यमराजने मेरा आदर-सत्कार करके मुझसे यह बात कही--“राजन्‌! तुम्हारे पुण्यकर्मोकी तो गिनती ही नहीं है। परन्तु अनजानमें तुमसे एक पाप भी बन गया है। उस पापको तुम पीछे भोगो या पहले ही भोग लो, जैसी तुम्हारी इच्छा हो, करो

Transliteration

yamastu pūjayitvā māṃ tato vacanam atravīt | nāntaḥ saṅkhyāyate rājan tava puṇyasya karmaṇaḥ ||

Translation

After honoring me with due reverence, Yama spoke: “O King, the merit of your righteous deeds is beyond counting.”

Word by Word

• {'yamaḥ': 'Yama, lord of justice and the dead

• dispenser of karmic results', 'tu': 'but/indeed (emphatic particle)', 'pūjayitvā': 'having honored, having worshipped, having shown reverence to', 'mām': 'me', 'tataḥ': 'then, thereafter', 'vacanam': 'speech, statement, utterance', 'atravīt (abravīt)': 'said, spoke', 'na': 'not', 'antaḥ': 'end, limit', 'saṅkhyāyate': 'is counted, is enumerated', 'rājan': 'O king (vocative)', 'tava': 'your', 'puṇyasya': 'of merit, of virtuous credit', 'karmaṇaḥ': 'of deeds/actions'}

Speaker

ब्राह्मण उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yama (Yamarāja)
• King (Rājan)
• Brāhmaṇa (speaker)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even vast accumulated merit can be acknowledged as immeasurable, yet dharma operates with precision: no deed is lost, and accountability remains—virtue is praised, but any fault (even unintended) still has consequences under the moral governance symbolized by Yama.

What is happening in the narrative?

A brāhmaṇa narrator reports that Yama, after respectfully honoring him, addresses a king and declares that the king’s meritorious deeds are beyond enumeration—setting the stage for a discussion of karmic results and how even a small lapse may still require recompense.