Yamavākya (The Words of Yama)

Verse 1

यम उवाच । श्रृणु मे वचनं नाथ पितामह पितामह । मरणादधिकं देव यत्प्रतापस्य खंडनम् ॥ १ ॥

Yama said: O Lord, O Grandfather—O Grandfather—listen to my words. O divine one, more grievous than death is the shattering of one’s majesty, honour, and spiritual power.

Verse 2

निस्पृहो नाचरेद्यस्तु नियोगं पद्मसंभव । अन्धकूपे निपतति स चाशु नरके ध्रुवम् ॥ २ ॥

O Padma-born (Brahmā), whoever, though free from selfish desire, does not carry out the duty enjoined by the śāstras, falls into a blind well—and certainly, soon, into hell.

Verse 3

नियोगी न नियोगं यः करोति कमलासन । प्रभोर्वित्तं समश्नाति स भवेत्काष्ठकीटकः ॥ ३ ॥

O Lotus-seated one (Brahmā), the appointed trustee who does not carry out his entrusted duty, yet consumes the wealth of his lord, becomes a wood-boring worm.

Verse 4

योऽश्नाति लोभाद्वित्तानि प्रजाभ्यो वा महीपतेः । नियोगी नरकं याति यावत्कल्पशतत्रयम् ॥ ४ ॥

He who, out of greed, consumes or misappropriates wealth belonging to the subjects or to the king—though appointed as an official—goes to hell for as long as three hundred kalpas.

Verse 5

आत्मकार्यपरो यस्तु स्वामिनं च विलुंपति । भवेद्वेश्मनि मंदात्मा आखुः कल्पशतत्रयम् ॥ ५ ॥

But one who, intent only on his own gain, steals from or plunders his master—such a dull-minded person is born as a rat in the household for three hundred kalpas.

Verse 6

नियोगी यस्तु वै भूत्वा आत्मवेश्मनि भोक्ष्यति । भृत्यान्वै कर्मकरणे राज्ञो मार्जारतां व्रजेत् ॥ ६ ॥

But one who, having become an appointed officer (niyogī), consumes for himself in his own house and employs the king’s servants to carry out his personal tasks—such a person falls into the state of a cat.

Verse 7

सोऽहं देव तवादेशात् प्रजा धर्मेण शासयन् । पुण्येन पुण्यकर्तारं पापं पापेन कर्मणा ॥ ७ ॥

“Therefore, O Lord, by Your command I govern the subjects in accordance with dharma—rewarding the doer of merit with merit, and requiting sin with sinful consequence, in keeping with their deeds.”

Verse 8

सम्यग्विचार्य मुनिभिर्घर्मशास्त्रादिभिर्विभो । कल्पादौ वर्तमानस्य यावद्यावद्दिनं तव ॥ ८ ॥

O all-pervading Lord, having rightly examined the matter through sages and through Dharma-śāstras and related authorities, they declare how long Your ‘day’ lasts—especially for this present kalpa at its beginning.

Verse 9

सोऽहं त्वदीयेन विभो नियोगेनैव शक्नुयाम् । कर्तुं रुक्मांगदेनाद्य पराभूतो हि भूभुजा ॥ ९ ॥

Therefore, O all-pervading Lord, only by Your command and appointment may I be able to act; for today I have indeed been defeated by King Rukmāṅgada.

Verse 10

भयाद्यस्य जगन्नाथ पृथिवी सागरांबरा । न भुंक्ते वासरे विष्णोः सर्वपापप्रणाशने ॥ १० ॥

O Lord of the universe! Out of fear of Him, the earth—clothed in the ocean—does not partake of food on Viṣṇu’s day, the day that destroys all sins.

Verse 11

विहाय सर्वधर्मांस्तु विहाय पितृपूजनम् । विहाय देवपूजां च तीर्थस्नानादिकव्सक्रियाम् ॥ ११ ॥

Abandoning all other religious duties—abandoning the worship of the Pitṛs (ancestors), abandoning even the worship of the gods, and abandoning ritual acts such as bathing at sacred tīrthas—one should take exclusive refuge in the supreme path taught here.

Verse 12

योगसांख्यावुभौ त्यक्त्वा ज्ञानं ज्ञेयं च मानद । त्यक्त्वा स्वाध्यायहोमांश्च कृत्वा पापानि भूरिशः ॥ १२ ॥

O bestower of honor, having abandoned both Yoga and Sāṅkhya—indeed abandoning even knowledge and the object of knowledge—and giving up Vedic study and homa oblations as well, he commits abundant sins.

Verse 13

प्रयांति वैष्णवं लोकमुपोष्य हरिवासरम् । मनुजाः पितृभिः सार्द्धं तथैव च पितामहैः ॥ १३ ॥

Having observed a fast on Hari’s sacred day, people depart to Viṣṇu’s realm, the Vaiṣṇava world—together with their fathers and likewise with their grandfathers.

Verse 14

तेषामपीह पितरः पितॄणां पितरस्तथा । तथा मातामहा यांति मातुर्ये जनकादयः ॥ १४ ॥

Here, their fathers too—as well as the fathers of those Pitṛs—attain the fruit of that offering. Likewise, the maternal grandfathers also attain it: those on the mother’s side, beginning with her father and the rest.

Verse 15

तेषामपि जनेतारो जनितॄणां हि पूर्वजाः । एतद्दुःखं पुनर्देव मम मर्मविभेदनम् ॥ १५ ॥

Even they have progenitors; indeed, the begetters themselves have ancestors. This sorrow again, O Lord, pierces my very vital core.

Verse 16

प्रियायाः पितरो यांति मार्जयित्वा लिपिं मम । पितॄणां बीजतो यस्माद्धात्र्या कुक्षौ धृतो यतः ॥ १६ ॥

Having erased my written obligation, the ancestors of my beloved attain their higher course; for I was borne in the womb of my nurse because the seed belonged to the Pitṛs.

Verse 17

यदेकः कुरुते कर्म तदेकेनैव भुज्यते । ततोऽन्यस्य कृतं ब्रह्मन्बीजं धात्रीसमुद्भवम् ॥ १७ ॥

Whatever action a person performs, that result is enjoyed by that very person alone. Therefore, O Brahmin, the karmic ‘seed’ arises from one’s own deeds—not from what is done by another.

Verse 18

तारयेत्स उभौ पक्षौ यत्पिंडो यस्य विग्रहः । न भार्याया भवेद्वीजं न भार्या कुक्षिधारिणी ॥ १८ ॥

He alone delivers both lines (of ancestors and descendants), for the embodied person is formed from that very ancestral substance. Without a wife there is no seed, and without a wife there is no womb to bear the child.

Verse 19

कथं तस्या जगन्नाथ पक्षो याति परं पदम् । जामातुः पुण्यमाहात्म्यत्तेन मे शिरसो रुजा ॥ १९ ॥

O Lord of the universe, how does her ‘side’ attain the supreme state? It is by the sacred greatness of the son-in-law’s merit that this pain in my head has arisen.

Verse 20

न मे प्रयोजनं देव नियोगेनेदृशेन वै । एकादश्युपवासी यः स मां त्यक्त्वा व्रजेद्धरिम् ॥ २० ॥

O Lord, I have no need of such a command. Whoever fasts on Ekādaśī—let that person forsake me and go to Hari (Viṣṇu) alone.

Verse 21

कुलत्रयं समुद्धृत्य आत्मना सह पद्मज । त्यक्त्वा तु मामकं मार्गं प्रयाति हरिमंदिरम् ॥ २१ ॥

O Padmaja (Brahmā), having uplifted three generations of his lineage along with his own self, he abandons my path and proceeds to Hari’s abode.

Verse 22

न यज्ञैस्तादृशैर्देव गतिं प्राप्नोति मानवः । न तीर्थैर्नापि दानैर्वा न व्रतैर्विष्णुवर्जितैः ॥ २२ ॥

O Deva, a human being does not attain the supreme goal through such sacrifices; nor through pilgrimages, nor through gifts, nor through vows—when these are devoid of Viṣṇu.

Verse 23

न जले पावके वापि मृतः प्राप्नोति तां गतिम् । योगेन संप्रणष्टो वा भृगुपातेन वा विधे ॥ २३ ॥

O Brahmā, one who dies in water or in fire does not attain that supreme state; nor does one who perishes through forced yogic withdrawal, nor one who dies by leaping from a precipice.

Verse 24

तादृशीं न गतिं याति यादृशीं वैष्णवव्रती । गतिं मतिमतां श्रेष्ठ सत्यमेतदुदीरितम् ॥ २४ ॥

O best among the wise, no one attains a destiny like that attained by one who observes the Vaiṣṇava vow; this has been declared as the truth.

Verse 25

हरेर्दिने धातृफलांगलिप्तो विमुक्तवांछारसभोजनो नरः । प्रयाति लोके धरणीधरस्य विदुष्टकर्मापि मनुष्यजन्मा ॥ २५ ॥

On Hari’s sacred day, a man who anoints his body with the paste of the dhātṛ (āmalakī) fruit and eats with his craving for tastes subdued attains the world of Dharaṇīdhara (Viṣṇu)—even if, though born human, he has formerly done blameworthy deeds.

Verse 26

सोऽहं निराशो भुवि हीनकर्मा तवागतः पादसरोजयुग्मम् । विज्ञप्ति मात्राभयदाप्तिकालं कुरुष्व सर्गस्थितिनाशहेतोः ॥ २६ ॥

I, hopeless and of meagre merit upon this earth, have come to Your pair of lotus-feet. O Cause of creation, preservation, and dissolution, grant me the time and opportunity to obtain fearlessness, if only through this humble supplication.

Verse 27

मास्युस्तदा पापकृतो विहीना यन्मामकैर्भूतगणैर्मनुष्याः । नियंत्रिताः श्रृंखलरज्जुबंधनैः समीपगा मे वशगा भवेयुः ॥ २७ ॥

Then may the sinners not remain unpunished, so that human beings—restrained by my own hosts of beings and bound by chains and ropes—may be brought near and come under my control.

Verse 28

भग्नस्तु मार्गो रवितापयुक्तो यद्विष्णुसंघैरतितीव्रहस्तैः । विमुच्य कुंभीं सकलो जनौघः प्रयाति तद्धाम परात्परस्य ॥ २८ ॥

That path—scorched by the sun’s heat—is shattered open by the exceedingly strong bands of Viṣṇu’s attendants; and, released from the Kumbhī hell, the entire multitude goes forth to the supreme abode of the Supreme Lord.

Verse 29

इति श्रीबृहन्नारदीयपुराणोत्तरभागे यमवाक्यं नाम चतुर्थोऽध्यायः ॥ ४ ॥

Thus ends the Fourth Chapter, called “Yamavākya (The Words of Yama),” in the Uttara-bhāga (Later Section) of the Śrī Bṛhannāradīya Purāṇa.