Vamana Purana — Karmic Causes of Narakas, Shloka 5
Karmic Causes of Narakas and the Irremediability of Ingratitude (Kṛtaghna-doṣa)
कुरुनिन्दाकरा ये च सखविघ्नकराश्च ये दातुर्निवारकाये च तेषु ते निपतन्ति हि / 12.4 सुहृद्दम्पतिसोदर्यस्वामिभृत्यपितासुतान् याज्योपाध्याययोर्यैश्च कृतो भेदो ऽधमैर्मिथः
kurunindākarā ye ca sakhavighnakarāśca ye dāturnivārakāye ca teṣu te nipatanti hi / 12.4 suhṛddampatisodaryasvāmibhṛtyapitāsutān yājyopādhyāyayoryaiśca kṛto bhedo 'dhamairmithaḥ
Those who engage in reviling the Kurus, those who create obstacles among friends, and those who prevent a donor from giving—upon them (the consequences/punishments) surely fall. Likewise, base people who foment mutual division between well-wishers, husband and wife, siblings, master and servant, father and son, and between the sacrificer (patron) and the officiating priest/teacher—upon them too the consequences surely descend.
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FAQs
The text frames social sabotage—especially blocking generosity and rupturing core relationships—as a serious ethical violation. Dharma is upheld not only by personal purity but by protecting trust, charity (dāna), and the integrity of teacher–patron relationships that sustain ritual and learning.
Like many Purāṇic passages, it functions as dharma-upadeśa (ethical injunction) embedded within the Purāṇa’s narrative framework, rather than directly expressing one of the five hallmark topics.
The listed pairs (spouses, siblings, master–servant, father–son, patron–priest) represent the social ‘joints’ of dharmic society. Creating bheda is symbolically akin to attacking the body of dharma itself—disabling both household order (gṛhastha-dharma) and sacrificial order (yajña).