Shloka 6
प्रह्लादस्य अव्यभिचारिणी भक्ति, मायाविनाशः, तथा विष्णोः विश्वरूप-स्तुतिः
कर्मणा मनसा वाचा परपीडां करोति यः तद् बीजं जन्म फलति प्रभूतं तस्य चाशुभम्
karmaṇā manasā vācā parapīḍāṃ karoti yaḥ tad bījaṃ janma phalati prabhūtaṃ tasya cāśubham
Whoever inflicts pain upon another—by deed, by thought, or by speech—sows a seed that, across births, ripens into abundant bitter fruit for him; and that harvest is truly inauspicious.
Sage Parāśara (in instruction to Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Karmic causality of harming others through body, mind, and speech.
Teaching: Ethical
Quality: authoritative
Concept: Harm inflicted by action, thought, or speech plants karmic seeds that mature across births into abundant suffering.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Adopt threefold restraint (kāya-manas-vāk): pause before speaking, check harmful intentions, and practice non-violence in daily choices.
Vishishtadvaita: Karma’s moral order operates under the Lord’s governance; the jīva reaps results while remaining dependent on the Supreme as inner ruler and dispenser of fruits.
Phase: Teaching (Prahlada's schools)
Bhakti Quality: Ahiṃsā rooted in karmic insight; devotion expressed as non-harming in thought, word, and deed.
Bhakti Type: shanta
FAQs
This verse frames harm—through body, mind, or speech—as a karmic “seed” that inevitably matures into suffering, often across multiple births, reinforcing dharma as an objective moral law.
Parāśara presents karma as causal and cumulative: even subtle acts like hostile thoughts or cruel words generate results that ripen later as abundant inauspicious outcomes.
Though Vishnu is not named in the verse, the Purana’s framework treats this moral order as operating under Vishnu’s supreme governance—dharma and karmic fruition are expressions of the cosmic order sustained by the Supreme Reality.