Shloka 4

Matsya Purana — Dialogue of Aṣṭaka and Yayāti: Exhaustion of Merit

Devanagari script

*ययातिरुवाच इमं भौमं नरकं ते पतन्ति लालप्यमाना नरदेव सर्वे ते कङ्कगोमायुपलाशनार्थं क्षितौ विवृद्धिं बहुधा प्रयान्ति //

Transliteration

*yayātiruvāca imaṃ bhaumaṃ narakaṃ te patanti lālapyamānā naradeva sarve te kaṅkagomāyupalāśanārthaṃ kṣitau vivṛddhiṃ bahudhā prayānti //

Translation

Yayāti said: “O king of men, all those beings fall into this earthly hell, wailing and lamenting. Seeking only to become food for vultures and jackals, they undergo many kinds of growth and transformation upon the ground (that is, repeated embodied states of suffering).”

Word by Word

• ययातिः (yayātiḥ): King Yayāti

• उवाच (uvāca): said

• इमम् (imam): this

• भौमम् (bhaumam): earthly, on the ground

• नरकम् (narakam): hell

• ते (te): they, those beings

• पतन्ति (patanti): fall

• लालप्यमानाः (lālapyamānāḥ): lamenting, wailing, crying out

• नरदेव (naradeva): O king (literally ‘god among men’)

• सर्वे (sarve): all

• ते (te): those

• कङ्क (kaṅka): vulture

• गोमायु (gomāyu): jackal

• पलाशनार्थम् (palāśanārtham): for the purpose of being eaten/consumed

• क्षितौ (kṣitau): on the earth, on the ground

• विवृद्धिम् (vivṛddhim): growth, increase, swelling / further development (of bodily condition)

• बहुधा (bahudhā): in many ways

• प्रयान्ति (prayānti): undergo, proceed into, experience.

Speaker

• King Yayāti

Entities Mentioned

• Yayati
• Naraka (hell)
• Kaṅka (vulture)
• Gomāyu (jackal)

Tags

• Naraka
• Karma
• Sin and Consequence
• Kingship Ethics
• Puranic Cosmology

FAQs

What does this verse reveal about the creation or dissolution (Pralaya)?

This verse is not about Pralaya; it focuses on karmic retribution—an “earthly hell” where beings suffer bodily degradation and repeated painful conditions as a result of wrongdoing.

How does this verse relate to the duties of a King or Householder?

By addressing the listener as “naradeva” (king), the verse frames punishment as a warning for rulers and householders: uphold dharma, restrain cruelty and injustice, and govern ethically to avoid karmic downfall described as bhauma-naraka.

What is the architectural or ritual significance mentioned here?

No Vāstu or temple-ritual rule is stated here; the verse’s significance is ethical and soteriological—illustrating the horror of karmic punishment as a deterrent and a prompt toward expiatory discipline (prāyaścitta) in the broader Purāṇic framework.