Shloka 26
नरक-निर्णयः, पाप-कर्म-फल-व्यवस्था, प्रायश्चित्त-क्रमः, तथा हरि-स्मरण-परमत्वम्
असिपत्रवनं याति वनच्छेदी वृथैव यः औरभ्रिको मृगव्याधो वह्निज्वाले पतन्ति वै
asipatravanaṃ yāti vanacchedī vṛthaiva yaḥ aurabhriko mṛgavyādho vahnijvāle patanti vai
He who pointlessly fells forests is driven to Asipatravana, the “forest of sword-like leaves.” And the trapper who lives by snares, the hunter who kills game—such men are indeed cast into blazing tongues of fire.
Sage Parāśara (in discourse to Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Naraka destinies for violence against nature and animals
Teaching: Ethical
Quality: severe
Cosmic Hierarchy: Lokas (worlds)
Concept: Wanton deforestation leads to Asipatravana, and trapping/hunting sentient beings leads to fiery torments—violence against life rebounds as suffering.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Adopt ahimsa in diet and lifestyle; support conservation, avoid needless killing, and treat forests as sacred commons.
Vishishtadvaita: Ahimsa toward beings and forests honors the Lord’s indwelling presence in all; cruelty is an offense against the Antaryāmin’s embodied field—even when not named explicitly.
FAQs
Asipatravana is a naraka used to illustrate karmic retribution for destructive, purposeless violence—here, specifically the needless cutting of forests—showing that harm to living ecosystems has moral consequences.
Parāśara groups the trapper (aurabhrika) and hunter (mṛgavyādha) among those who sustain themselves through killing; their fate is described as falling into fire-blazes, emphasizing that livelihood built on cruelty ripens into intense suffering.
Even when Vishnu is not named in the verse, the teaching assumes a universe ordered by Vishnu’s supreme sovereignty, where dharma and karma operate as dependable law—actions against life and order inevitably yield corresponding results.