Shloka 95

Adhyaya 14 — The Messenger of Yama Explains Karmic Retribution and the Causes of Naraka Torments

Sanskrit

नरकप्रच्युतानि यानि यैर्यैरिहितपातकैः ।

प्रयान्ति योनिजातानि तन्मे निगदतः शृणु ॥

Transliteration

narakapracyutā yāni yair yair vihitapātakaiḥ /

prayānti yonijātāni tan me nigadataḥ śṛṇu

Translation

Écoutez-moi, tandis que je l’énonce : après être tombés hors de l’enfer, selon les fautes particulières qu’ils ont commises, dans quelles naissances et quels ventres divers ils entreront.

Word by Word

• naraka-pracyutāni: fallen down from hell (released from hell)
• naraka-pracyutāni: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: naraka+pracyuta (प्रातिपदिक; naraka + pra-√cyu (च्यु धातु) क्त)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Nominative (प्रथमा/1), Plural (बहुवचन); past passive participle (क्त) used adjectivally

• yāni: which (beings)
• yāni: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (यद् सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Nominative (प्रथमा/1), Plural (बहुवचन); relative pronoun

• yaiḥ: by which
• yaiḥ: Karaṇa/Hetu (करण/हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (यद् सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine/Neuter (पुं/नपुंसक), Instrumental (तृतीया/3), Plural (बहुवचन); relative pronoun

• yaiḥ: by whichever (sins)
• yaiḥ: Karaṇa/Hetu (करण/हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (यद् सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine/Neuter (पुं/नपुंसक), Instrumental (तृतीया/3), Plural (बहुवचन); repetition for distributive sense

• vihita-pātakaiḥ: by the prescribed/committed sins
• vihita-pātakaiḥ: Karaṇa/Hetu (करण/हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vihita+pātaka (प्रातिपदिक; vi-√dhā (धा धातु) क्त + pātaka)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Instrumental (तृतीया/3), Plural (बहुवचन)

• prayānti: go forth / proceed
• prayānti: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra-√yā (या धातु)
• Form: Present tense (लट्), 3rd person (प्रथमपुरुष), Plural (बहुवचन), Parasmaipada (परस्मैपद)

• yoni-jātāni: births in various wombs/species
• yoni-jātāni: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yoni+jāta (प्रातिपदिक; yoni + √jan (जन् धातु) क्त)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Accusative (द्वितीया/2), Plural (बहुवचन); PPP (क्त) used substantively

• tat: that (account)
• tat: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (तद् सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Accusative (द्वितीया/2), Singular (एकवचन)

• me: of me / to me
• me: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध; षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (अस्मद् सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Genitive (षष्ठी/6), Singular (एकवचन)

• nigadataḥ: while (I am) telling
• nigadataḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ni-√gad (गद् धातु)
• Form: Present active participle (शतृ), Genitive (षष्ठी/6), Singular (एकवचन), Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग); ‘of (me) speaking’

• śṛṇu: listen
• śṛṇu: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √śru (श्रु धातु)
• Form: Imperative (लोट्), 2nd person (मध्यमपुरुष), Singular (एकवचन), Parasmaipada (परस्मैपद)

Speakers

• Yamakiṅkara introducing a catalog of karmic rebirths

Verse Rasa

{ "primaryRasa": "shanta", "secondaryRasa": "bhakti", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

Primary Deities

• Yama

Key Themes

• Karma
• Rebirth taxonomy
• Moral causality
• Didactic catalog

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Actions are portrayed as specifying not only suffering but also the form of future embodiment. The moral universe is ordered: choices shape destiny in precise ways.

How does this fit the Pancalakṣaṇa (5 characteristics)?

Didactic dharma material; not one of the five canonical purāṇic marks.

What is the esoteric significance?

‘Yoni’ can be read as a psychological state as well as a biological one: repeated habits generate corresponding ‘forms’ of experience and limitation.