Varaha Purana 202.18: Adhyaya 202, Shloka 18
Description of Infernal Punishments and the Ripening of Karmic Consequences
Uttara Bhāga · Dharma-śāstric Ethics (Compassion toward animals; deprivation as harm)
सर्वेषां तु पशूनां यो नित्यं धारयते जलम् ॥ न त्राता न च दाता च पापस्यास्य दुरात्मनः
sarveṣāṃ tu paśūnāṃ yo nityaṃ dhārayate jalam || na trātā na ca dātā ca pāpasyāsya durātmanaḥ
sarveShAM tu pashUnAM yo nityaM dhArayate jalam || na trAtA na cha dAtA cha pApasyAsya durAtmanaH
जो इंसान जानवरों को पानी नहीं देता। वो रोज़ पानी रोक देता है। ऐसे बुरे इंसान का कोई रक्षक नहीं है। कोई उससे कुछ नहीं देता।
Sandhi Notes
- pāpasyāsya = pāpasya + asya (a+a→ā)
- dur+ātman → durātmān (stem), gen.sg durātmanaḥ
Varāha
Ahimsā includes positive care: denying basic sustenance (water) to beings is active harm.
Maintain water-troughs, wells, and accessible drinking water for cattle, wildlife, and travelers; treat water-giving as daily dāna.
Withholding water from animals is a grievous sin; such a person finds no protector or benefactor.
Loss of support in this world and the next; karmic abandonment—no ‘trātā’ (rescuer) arises at the time of distress or after death.
Varāha Purāṇa 202.23-24 (theft/obstruction of water and food; punitive outcomes)
FAQs
It documents a moral ecology in which access to water is treated as an ethical obligation, aligning social virtue with stewardship toward non-human life.
No specific location is mentioned; the verse articulates a general ethic relevant to settlements, pastoral contexts, and shared water resources.
Do not deprive animals of water; withholding basic sustenance is framed as serious wrongdoing.
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