Vamana Purana — Karmic Causes of Narakas, Shloka 14
Karmic Causes of Narakas and the Irremediability of Ingratitude (Kṛtaghna-doṣa)
एकपङ्क्त्युपविष्टानां विषमं भोजयन्ति ये विड्भोजनं राक्षसेन्द्र नरकं ते व्रजन्ति च
ekapaṅktyupaviṣṭānāṃ viṣamaṃ bhojayanti ye viḍbhojanaṃ rākṣasendra narakaṃ te vrajanti ca
हे राक्षसेन्द्र! जो एक ही पंक्ति में बैठे लोगों को असमान रूप से भोजन कराते हैं, वे ‘विड्भोजन’ नामक नरक को भी प्राप्त होते हैं।
{ "primaryRasa": "raudra", "secondaryRasa": "bhayanaka", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }
FAQs
Fairness in giving is part of dharma: when a community meal is undertaken, discrimination and partiality in serving are treated as a serious moral fault, because it humiliates and harms others at the most basic level of sustenance.
As with many Purāṇas, the text includes dharma-śikṣā (ethical instruction) alongside the pancalakṣaṇa topics. This passage is best categorized as karmic/dharmic instruction rather than cosmology or genealogy.
The hell-name ‘Viḍbhojana’ (excrement-eating) is a reversal-symbol: one who degrades others at a sacred meal is themselves assigned the most degrading ‘meal,’ dramatizing the inversion of dignity.