Shloka 27
अध्याय २९७ — श्रेयः, धृति, दान-नियमाः
Welfare, Steadfastness, and Norms of Giving
ऊर्ध्व॑ भित्त्वा प्रतिष्ठन्ते प्राणा: पुण्यवतां नूप । मध्यतो मध्यपुण्यानामधो दुष्कृतकर्मणाम्,राजन! पुण्यात्मा पुरुषोंके प्राण ब्रह्मरन्ध्रको भेदकर निकलते हैं। जिनके पुण्यकर्म मध्यम श्रेणीके हैं, उनके प्राण मध्यद्वार (मुख, नेत्र आदि)-से बाहर होते हैं तथा जिन्होंने केवल पाप ही किया है, उनके प्राण नीचेके छिद्र (गुदा या शिक्नद्वार) से निकलते हैं
ūrdhvaṁ bhittvā pratiṣṭhante prāṇāḥ puṇyavatāṁ nṛpa | madhyato madhya-puṇyānām adho duṣkṛta-karmaṇām rājān ||
Parāśara said: “O king, the life-breaths of the truly meritorious depart upward, piercing the brahma-randhra. Those whose merit is of a middling kind depart through the middle openings (such as the mouth and eyes). But those who have acted in evil alone depart downward, through the lower apertures.”
पराशर उवाच
Educational Q&A
A person’s moral and spiritual quality (puṇya vs. duṣkṛta) is reflected at death in the ‘path’ by which prāṇa departs: upward through the brahma-randhra for the highly meritorious, through middle openings for middling merit, and downward for those dominated by sinful action—linking ethical conduct with one’s final transition.
Parāśara instructs a king about the signs and implications of death, describing three modes of prāṇa’s departure corresponding to three grades of karma, thereby teaching the king an ethical-yogic view of how life’s deeds shape the moment of dying.