Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 15, Shloka 13
Adhyaya 15 — Karmic Retribution: Rebirths After Naraka and the King’s Compassion in Hell
पुनर्दात् च कन्यायाः कृमिरेवोपजायते । देवता-पितृ-विप्राणामदत्वा योऽन्नमश्नुते ॥
punardāt ca kanyāyāḥ kṛmirevopajāyate / devatā-pitṛ-viprāṇāmadatvā yo 'nnamaśnute
And one who ‘gives a maiden again’ (i.e., violates the proper rule of kanyā-dāna) is indeed born as a worm. Whoever eats food without first giving to the deities, the ancestors, and the Brahmins (incurs blame—the statement continues beyond the provided line).
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FAQs
The verse ties personal consumption and family rites to a larger economy of obligation: eating is framed as a sacrificial act requiring prior sharing (with gods, ancestors, and learned guests). It also flags marriage-gifting norms as dharmically regulated.
Dharma/ācāra instruction (gṛhastha conduct) rather than pancalakṣaṇa narrative material.
‘Not offering before eating’ symbolizes severing reciprocity with cosmic and ancestral orders; the ‘worm’ rebirth motif encodes spiritual diminishment into a life of mere consumption without higher orientation.