Shloka 49
आत्यन्तिक-लयहेतुः: तापत्रय-विवेचनम् तथा ‘भगवान्/वासुदेव’ शब्दार्थः
Threefold Suffering and the Path to Final Liberation; Meaning of Bhagavān and Vāsudeva
नरके यानि दुःखानि पापहेतूद्भवानि वै प्राप्यन्ते नारकैर् विप्र तेषां संख्या न विद्यते
narake yāni duḥkhāni pāpahetūdbhavāni vai prāpyante nārakair vipra teṣāṃ saṃkhyā na vidyate
Ô brāhmane, les souffrances endurées en enfer—nées de causes pécheresses et subies par les habitants de Naraka—sont au-delà du dénombrement; leur nombre ne peut être connu.
Sage Parāśara (addressing Maitreya as 'vipra')
FAQs
This verse frames Naraka as the karmic consequence of sin: sufferings arise from pāpa and are presented as innumerable, emphasizing moral accountability within cosmic order.
He explicitly states that the pains of hell are “pāpa-hetūdbhava”—born from sinful causes—showing a cause-and-effect ethic where actions mature into corresponding experiences.
Even when Vishnu is not named in the verse, the teaching presumes a divinely ordered universe under the Supreme Reality—where dharma governs outcomes and karmic law operates within Vishnu’s sovereign cosmic order.