Vamana Purana — Karmic Causes of Narakas, Shloka 16
Karmic Causes of Narakas and the Irremediability of Ingratitude (Kṛtaghna-doṣa)
गोब्राह्णणाग्नयः स्पृष्टा यैरुच्छिष्टैः क्षपाचर क्षिप्यन्ते हि करास्तेषां तप्तसुम्भे सुदारुणे
gobrāhṇaṇāgnayaḥ spṛṣṭā yairucchiṣṭaiḥ kṣapācara kṣipyante hi karāsteṣāṃ taptasumbhe sudāruṇe
हे क्षपाचर! जिनके उच्छिष्ट-दोष से गौ, ब्राह्मण या पवित्र अग्नि स्पर्शित हो जाए, उनके हाथ अत्यन्त भयानक तप्त कड़ाह में डाले जाते हैं।
{ "primaryRasa": "raudra", "secondaryRasa": "bhayanaka", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }
FAQs
Ritual and ethical discipline are treated as inseparable: careless impurity (ucchiṣṭa) becomes a moral fault when it pollutes protected sanctities—cow, brahmin, and sacrificial fire—thus generating severe karmic consequences.
This is not sarga/pratisarga/vaṃśa material; it aligns best with dharma-nirdeśa embedded within the Purāṇic narrative stream, i.e., an ethical-ritual instruction segment ancillary to vaṃśānucarita/ākhyāna sections.
Hands symbolize agency and action; the punishment targeting hands teaches that impure actions (especially those violating sacred boundaries) deform the doer’s very capacity to act, reflecting a karmic ‘fit’ between deed and result.