Shloka 3

नरक-निर्णयः, पाप-कर्म-फल-व्यवस्था, प्रायश्चित्त-क्रमः, तथा हरि-स्मरण-परमत्वम्

Devanagari script

रुधिराम्भो वैतरणी कृमिशः कृमिभोजनः असिपत्रवनं कृष्णो लालाभक्षश् च दारुणः

Transliteration

rudhirāmbho vaitaraṇī kṛmiśaḥ kṛmibhojanaḥ asipatravanaṃ kṛṣṇo lālābhakṣaś ca dāruṇaḥ

Translation

Parāśara said: “There is Vaitaraṇī, whose waters are blood; there are Kṛmiśa and Kṛmibhojana, where worms become the food; there is Asipatravana, the forest of sword-like leaves; and there are the dreadful realms called Kṛṣṇa and Lālābhakṣa—grim abodes shaped by the soul’s own deeds.”

Word by Word

• रुधिराम्भः: Rudhirāmbhas (blood-water; a hell-name)
• रुधिराम्भः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: रुधिर (प्रातिपदिक) + अम्भस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; कर्मधारय-समास (रुधिरम् अम्भः)

• वैतरणी: Vaitaraṇī (a hell-river/name)
• वैतरणी: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वैतरणी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• कृमिशः: Kṛmiśa (wormy; a hell-name)
• कृमिशः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कृमिश (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• कृमिभोजनः: Kṛmibhojana (worm-food; a hell-name)
• कृमिभोजनः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कृमि (प्रातिपदिक) + भोजन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (कृमिणां भोजनः / कृमिभोजनः)

• असिपत्रवनम्: Asipatravana (forest of sword-leaves; a hell-name)
• असिपत्रवनम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: असि (प्रातिपदिक) + पत्र (प्रातिपदिक) + वन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समास (असिपत्राणां वनम्)

• कृष्णः: Kṛṣṇa (a hell-name)
• कृष्णः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कृष्ण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• लालाभक्षः: Lālābhakṣa (eater of saliva; a hell-name)
• लालाभक्षः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: लाला (प्रातिपदिक) + भक्ष (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समास (लालायाः भक्षः / लाला-भक्षः)

• च: and
• च: Samuccaya (Coordinator/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चयबोधक (conjunction)

• दारुणः: Dāruṇa (terrible; a hell-name)
• दारुणः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दारुण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (speaking to Maitreya)

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Parasara

Topic: Naraka-lokas and the karmic consequences of sin

Teaching: Cosmological

Quality: authoritative

Cosmological Context

Cosmic Hierarchy: Lokas (naraka realms; Vaitaraṇī river and Asipatravana as sub-regions)

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Infernal ‘places’ symbolize the precise and fitting maturation of specific karmas into suffering experienced by the embodied self.

Vedantic Theme: Dharma

Application: Use the vivid imagery as a contemplative restraint: audit one’s habits (harm, cruelty, deceit) and adopt corrective vows and charity.

Vishishtadvaita: Karmic justice functions as a regulated order within the Lord’s cosmos, preserving righteousness without denying individual moral agency.

Vaishnava Theology

Vishnu Form: Narayana (cosmic)

Characters & Entities

• Parāśara
• Maitreya
• Vaitaraṇī
• Kṛmiśa
• Kṛmibhojana
• Asipatravana
• Kṛṣṇa (Naraka)
• Lālābhakṣa

FAQs

What is the significance of Vaitaraṇī in the Vishnu Purana?

In this verse Vaitaraṇī is named as a blood-filled realm, signifying a karmically produced passage of suffering that dramatizes the Purāṇa’s moral universe—actions shape the soul’s post-death experience.

How does Sage Parāśara explain the logic behind Naraka descriptions?

Parāśara lists distinct hell-realms as differentiated outcomes of wrongdoing, presenting Naraka not as arbitrary punishment but as structured karmic consequence within cosmic order.

What is the theological importance of Lord Vishnu in this context?

Even when describing hells, the Vishnu Purana frames reality as governed by a just cosmic law under the Supreme—Vishnu as the sustaining sovereign—so dharma aligns the soul with that order and adharma fractures it into suffering.