Shloka 21

कल्मषापहर-कीर्तनम् / Kīrtana for the Removal of Impurity

Devanagari script

सम्मान्यांश्षावमन्यन्ते वृद्धान्‌ परिभवन्ति च । एवंविधा नरा देवि सर्वे निरयगामिन:

Transliteration

sammānyān avamanyante vṛddhān paribhavanti ca | evaṃvidhā narā devi sarve nirayagāminaḥ ||

Translation

Ils rabaissent ceux qui méritent les honneurs et insultent aussi les vieillards. Ô Déesse, les hommes de cette sorte—tous sans exception—sont voués à l’enfer ; car, poussés par l’orgueil et l’avidité, ils refusent de révérer les anciens et les dignes comme des maîtres, et les traitent au contraire avec mépris.

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'sammānyān', 'definition': 'those worthy of honor

• respectable persons'}, {'term': 'avamanyante', 'definition': 'they disrespect, slight, treat with contempt'}, {'term': 'vṛddhān', 'definition': 'the वृद्ध

• elders, aged persons, seniors'}, {'term': 'paribhavanti', 'definition': 'they insult, humiliate, dishonor'}, {'term': 'ca', 'definition': 'and'}, {'term': 'evaṃvidhāḥ', 'definition': 'of such a kind

• such people'}, {'term': 'narāḥ', 'definition': 'men, people'}, {'term': 'devi', 'definition': 'O Goddess (vocative address)'}, {'term': 'sarve', 'definition': 'all'}, {'term': 'nirayagāminaḥ', 'definition': 'going to Naraka (hell)

Speaker

श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Śrīmaheśvara (speaker)
• Devī (addressee)
• vṛddhāḥ (elders)
• sammānyāḥ (honorable persons)
• niraya (Naraka/hell)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

To uphold dharma by honoring those worthy of respect—especially elders—and to avoid prideful or greedy contempt; such disrespect is presented as a grave moral fault leading to hellish consequences.

What is happening in the narrative?

Śrīmaheśvara addresses Devī, describing a class of people who demean honorable persons and insult elders, and he declares the karmic outcome for such conduct: they become niraya-gāmin (hell-bound).