Shloka 13

Matsya Purana — Emergence of Brahmā from the Golden Lotus and the Lotus-Form Earth

Devanagari script

तेषां महार्णवो यत्र तद्रसेत्यभिसंज्ञितम् महापातककर्माणो मज्जन्ते यत्र मानवाः //

Transliteration

teṣāṃ mahārṇavo yatra tadrasetyabhisaṃjñitam mahāpātakakarmāṇo majjante yatra mānavāḥ //

Translation

Among those (hell-realms), there is a vast ocean known by the name “Tadrasā”; there, human beings who have committed the acts of the great sins (mahāpātakas) sink down (and are overwhelmed).

Word by Word

• तेषाम् (teṣām): among those

• महार्णवः (mahārṇavaḥ): great ocean

• यत्र (yatra): where

• तत्-रसा (tadrasā): Tadrasā (a named hell-ocean

• इति (iti): thus

• अभिसंज्ञितम् (abhisaṃjñitam): is designated/named

• महापातक-कर्माणः (mahāpātaka-karmāṇaḥ): doers of great-sin acts

• मज्जन्ते (majjante): sink/are submerged

• यत्र (yatra): where

• मानवाः (mānavāḥ): humans.

Speaker

• Lord Matsya (in instruction to Vaivasvata Manu, within the Matsya Purana’s didactic narration)

Entities Mentioned

• Mahāpātaka
• Tadrasā (hell-ocean)
• Naraka

Tags

• Naraka
• Karma
• Mahapataka
• Ethics
• Afterlife

FAQs

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

This verse is not about cosmic dissolution (pralaya); it describes a punitive post-death realm—an immense hell-ocean—where perpetrators of mahāpātakas are made to sink, emphasizing karmic consequence rather than cosmology.

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

By warning that “great sins” lead to severe post-mortem suffering, the verse reinforces the king’s duty to uphold dharma and restrain grave offenses in society, and the householder’s duty to avoid mahāpātaka conduct through ethical living, restraint, and prescribed expiations.

What is the architectural or ritual significance mentioned here?

No Vāstu or temple-architecture rule is stated here; the ritual takeaway is ethical: avoiding mahāpātakas (and, by implication, undertaking proper prāyaścitta when taught elsewhere) is presented as essential to avert naraka outcomes.