Shloka 32
नरकलोकमार्गयमदूतस्वरूपवर्णनम् / Description of the Path to Naraka and the Nature of Yama’s Messengers
उरसाधोमुखाश्चान्ये घृष्यमाणास्सुदुःखिताः । केशपाशनि बंधेन संस्कृष्यंते च रज्जुना
urasādhomukhāścānye ghṛṣyamāṇāssuduḥkhitāḥ | keśapāśani baṃdhena saṃskṛṣyaṃte ca rajjunā
Others, with their chests forced downward and their faces bent low, were being dragged along—rubbed and scraped—suffering intense pain; bound by a noose of hair and pulled by a rope.
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pasha
Shiva Form: Bhairava
Cosmic Event: nāraka-yātanā imagery within karmic adjudication
FAQs
The verse vividly depicts pasha—bondage and compulsion born of karma—showing how the bound soul (paśu) is dragged by its own accumulated deeds until it turns toward Pati (Shiva), the liberator who alone severs the bonds.
By contrasting helpless bondage with the possibility of grace, it supports Saguna Shiva worship (Linga-upasana) as a tangible refuge: devotion, surrender, and right conduct oriented to Shiva are presented as the path from constraint to freedom.
The practical takeaway is to counter bondage with Shiva-oriented sadhana—japa of the Panchakshara (Om Namah Shivaya), repentance and ethical restraint, and regular Shiva worship—so karma is purified and the soul becomes fit for liberation.