Padma Purana — Svarga Khanda, Shloka 30
Supremacy of Hari-Bhakti in Kali-yuga; Warnings on Sensual Attachment; Praise of Brāhmaṇas, Purāṇa-Listening, and Gaṅgā
तत्रैव रमते लोकः कस्तस्मादशुचिर्भवेत् । तत्रातिकष्टं लोकेस्मिन्नहो दैवविडंबना
tatraiva ramate lokaḥ kastasmādaśucirbhavet | tatrātikaṣṭaṃ lokesminnaho daivaviḍaṃbanā
लोग उसी में रमण करते हैं, तो उससे कौन अशुद्ध होगा? फिर भी इस लोक में यह अत्यंत कष्टदायक है, अहो! यह भाग्य की कैसी विडंबना है।
Unspecified (context-dependent within Svarga-khaṇḍa dialogue)
Concept: What people delight in can still become a cause of great suffering; discernment is needed to see the hidden cost of indulgence.
Application: Pause before repeating a pleasure-habit; ask whether it later produces hardship (health, relationships, clarity), and redirect toward sattvic routines and devotion.
Primary Rasa: karuna
Secondary Rasa: shanta
Visual Art Cues: {"scene_description":"A human crowd in a bustling pleasure-market reaches for glittering objects that subtly transform into chains and thorns. Above them, an unseen wheel of fate turns, casting alternating bands of light and shadow, while a lone contemplative figure stands aside, watching with sorrowful clarity.","primary_figures":["worldly men and women (symbolic)","a contemplative sage-like observer (symbolic)","personified Daiva/Kāla as a shadowy wheel (allegorical)"],"setting":"A symbolic city-street that blends into a dreamlike court of Svarga—arches, banners, and mirage-like palaces fading into smoke.","lighting_mood":"chiaroscuro with ominous divine overcast","color_palette":["smoky indigo","tarnished gold","ash gray","deep maroon","pale sandalwood"],"tanjore_prompt":"Tanjore painting style: an allegorical Svarga-court backdrop with ornate arches; a large gilded wheel of Daiva above, gold leaf haloing the wheel; below, richly dressed figures grasping jewel-like pleasures that morph into thorny vines; a calm ascetic at the edge with minimal ornamentation; heavy gold leaf embellishment, ruby-green textiles, gem-studded borders, traditional South Indian iconographic symmetry.","pahari_prompt":"Pahari miniature style: a lyrical city-scene with delicate linework; figures in elegant garments reaching toward sparkling objects; the objects subtly become dark vines; a solitary wise figure under a tree at the margin; cool dusk sky, layered hills in the distance, refined faces, restrained ornament, poetic melancholy.","kerala_mural_prompt":"Kerala mural style: bold black outlines and flat natural pigments; a large circular Kāla/Daiva wheel overhead; below, clustered figures in stylized poses of grasping; a serene contemplative figure with simplified ornaments; temple-wall aesthetic with red-yellow-green dominance and rhythmic composition.","pichwai_prompt":"Pichwai cloth painting style: ornate border of lotus and thorn motifs; central allegory of worldly delight turning to hardship; peacocks perched on arches watching; deep blue ground with gold detailing; intricate floral filigree framing the moral tableau, Nathdwara-inspired decorative density."}
Audio Atmosphere: {"recitation_mood":"dramatic","suggested_raga":"Bhairavi","pace":"moderate-narrative","voice_tone":"authoritative","sound_elements":["low temple bell","distant conch","soft drone (tanpura)","murmur of crowd fading into silence"]}
Sandhi Resolution Notes: तत्रैव = तत्र + एव; कस्तस्मात् = कः + तस्मात्; अशुचिर्भवेत् = अशुचिः + भवेत्; तत्रातिकष्टं = तत्र + अतिकष्टम्; लोकेस्मिन् = लोके + अस्मिन्; दैवविडंबना = दैव-विडंबना (समास)
FAQs
It contrasts human attachment—people enjoying something without feeling moral taint—with the real-world suffering it can cause, calling it an irony of fate (daiva-viḍambanā).
It suggests that when a practice becomes normalized and enjoyed by society, individuals rarely consider themselves “impure” because of it—even if it has harmful consequences.
Social acceptance is not the same as righteousness; one should evaluate actions by their consequences and dharmic standards, not merely by what people commonly enjoy.