Shloka 142
Matsya Purana — The Slaying of Jambha and the Rise of Tāraka: Divine Battle Formations
वदन्ति देहि देहि मे ममातिभक्ष्यचारिणः परे ऽवतीर्य शोणितापगासु धौतमूर्तया पितॄन् प्रतर्प्य देवताः समर्चयन्ति चामिषैर् गजोडुपे सुसंस्थितास्तरन्ति शोणितं ह्रदम् //
vadanti dehi dehi me mamātibhakṣyacāriṇaḥ pare 'vatīrya śoṇitāpagāsu dhautamūrtayā pitṝn pratarpya devatāḥ samarcayanti cāmiṣair gajoḍupe susaṃsthitāstaranti śoṇitaṃ hradam //
“Give, give to me!”—thus cry those who once lived by excessive eating of flesh. Having fallen into rivers of blood, their forms are “washed” by that torment. Then, after offering libations to the Fathers (Pitṛs) and worshipping the deities with flesh as the offering, they are placed upon an elephant-shaped boat and made to cross a lake of blood.
FAQs
This verse is not about cosmic dissolution (Pralaya); it describes post-death karmic retribution—graphic ‘rivers/lakes of blood’ used as imagery for the consequences of harmful, flesh-driven conduct.
It reinforces ethical self-restraint (especially regarding violence and indulgent consumption) and correct ritual responsibility (Pitṛ-tarpana, honoring deities). For householders and rulers, it implies governance and personal discipline that reduce harm and curb excess.
The ritual element is Pitṛ-tarpana (satisfying ancestors) and worship of deities through offerings; the verse frames these acts within a moral-cosmic accounting, warning that impure or violent offerings and indulgent habits can be tied to severe afterlife imagery.