Shloka 8
महाभिष-गङ्गा-दर्शनं वसूनां शापकथनं च
Mahābhiṣa Encounters Gaṅgā; The Vasus Explain Their Curse
षष्टिं सहस्राणि पतन्ति व्योम्नि तथा अशीतिं परिवत्सराणि । तान् वै तुदन्ति पतत:ः प्रपातं भीमा भौमा राक्षसास्तीक्षणदंष्टा:,कितने ही प्राणी आकाश (स्वर्गादि)-में साठ हजार वर्ष रहते हैं। कुछ अस्सी हजार वर्षोतक वहाँ निवास करते हैं। इसके बाद वे भूमिपर गिरते हैं। यहाँ उन गिरनेवाले जीवोंको तीखी दाढ़ोंवाले पृथ्वीके भयानक राक्षस (दुष्ट प्राणी) अत्यन्त पीड़ा देते हैं
aṣṭaka uvāca | ṣaṣṭiṃ sahasrāṇi patanti vyomni tathā aśītiṃ parivatsarāṇi | tān vai tudanti patataḥ prapātaṃ bhīmā bhaumā rākṣasās tīkṣṇadaṃṣṭrāḥ |
Aṣṭaka said: 'Some beings remain aloft in the sky-world for sixty thousand years, and others for eighty thousand years. When their allotted span there is exhausted, they fall down to the earth. As they plunge in that dreadful descent, terrifying earth-born rākṣasas with sharp fangs torment them severely.' The verse underscores the moral fragility of heavenly enjoyments: without sustaining merit and right conduct, even long celestial residence ends in painful downfall.
अष्टक उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even very long enjoyment in higher worlds is finite; when merit is exhausted, beings fall and may suffer. The verse warns against complacency in heavenly reward and points toward sustained dharma and right conduct as the true safeguard.
Aṣṭaka describes the fate of certain beings who dwell in the sky-world for vast spans (sixty or eighty thousand years) and then, upon the end of that tenure, fall to earth, where fearsome earth-born rākṣasas torment them during their descent.