Shloka 39

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

Devanagari script

प्रायश्चित्तान्य् अशेषाणि तपःकर्मात्मकानि वै यानि तेषाम् अशेषाणां कृष्णानुस्मरणं परम्

Transliteration

prāyaścittāny aśeṣāṇi tapaḥkarmātmakāni vai yāni teṣām aśeṣāṇāṃ kṛṣṇānusmaraṇaṃ param

Translation

Whatever acts of expiation there are—whether as austere discipline or prescribed ritual action—among them all the highest is continual remembrance of Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

Word by Word

• प्रायश्चित्तानि: expiations
• प्रायश्चित्तानि: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रायश्चित्त (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), बहुवचन — Nominative plural

• अशेषाणि: all, without remainder
• अशेषाणि: Visheshana (Adjectival modifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अशेष (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), बहुवचन — Nom./Acc. plural; विशेषण

• तपःकर्मात्मकानि: consisting of austerity and ritual action
• तपःकर्मात्मकानि: Visheshana (Adjectival modifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तपस् + कर्म + आत्मक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), बहुवचन — Nom./Acc. plural; विशेषण

• वै: indeed
• वै: Nipata (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वै (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय — निश्चयार्थक निपात (emphatic particle)

• यानि: which (are)
• यानि: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), बहुवचन — relative pronoun

• तेषाम्: of them
• तेषाम्: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसक, षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), बहुवचन — Genitive plural

• अशेषाणाम्: of all (of them)
• अशेषाणाम्: Visheshana (Adjectival modifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अशेष (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसक, षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), बहुवचन — Genitive plural; विशेषण

• कृष्णानुस्मरणम्: remembrance of Kṛṣṇa
• कृष्णानुस्मरणम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कृष्ण + अनुस्मरण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन — Nominative singular

• परम्: supreme, highest
• परम्: Vidhaya-visheshana (Predicate adjective/विधेयविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन — Nom./Acc. singular; विधेय-विशेषण

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (speaking to Maitreya)

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Parasara

Topic: Among all prāyaścittas (tapas and ritual), what is supreme?

Teaching: Devotional

Quality: revealing

Avatara Context

Avatara: Krishna

Purpose: He is remembered as the supreme refuge whose constant remembrance surpasses all ritual and ascetic expiations by purifying the heart and destroying sin at its root.

Leela: Moksha-dana

Dharma Restored: Inner purity and Godward orientation (bhagavad-smṛti as the highest corrective)

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: All expiations—whether ascetic or ritual—find their highest fulfillment in continual remembrance of Kṛṣṇa, which purifies more profoundly than external acts.

Vedantic Theme: Moksha

Application: Make daily bhagavat-smaraṇa central: short, frequent recollection (japa, nāma, or mindful remembrance) alongside ethical repair.

Vishishtadvaita: Bhakti as the supreme means: the jīva’s turning to the personal Lord (Kṛṣṇa) is efficacious beyond mere ritual, consistent with grace-centered liberation.

Vaishnava Theology

Vishnu Form: Krishna

Bhakti Type: Shanta

Characters & Entities

• Krishna
• Vishnu

FAQs

What is the significance of prāyaścitta (atonement) in the Vishnu Purana?

This verse ranks all expiations—whether austerities or ritual acts—and declares that the supreme purifier is constant remembrance of Krishna.

How does Sage Parāśara explain the highest means of purification?

He teaches Maitreya that while many penances and karmic rites exist, their culmination and highest form is kṛṣṇānusmaraṇa—steady recollection of the Lord.

What is the theological importance of Vishnu/Krishna in this context?

Krishna (as Vishnu, the Supreme Reality) is presented as the ultimate refuge whose remembrance surpasses external expiations, emphasizing bhakti as a direct purifier leading toward liberation.