Srimad Bhagavatam — Panchama Skandha, Shloka 40
Naraka-varṇana: The Hellish Planets and the Karmic Logic of Punishment
भूद्वीपवर्षसरिदद्रिनभ:समुद्र- पातालदिङ्नरकभागणलोकसंस्था । गीता मया तव नृपाद्भुतमीश्वरस्य स्थूलं वपु: सकलजीवनिकायधाम ॥ ४० ॥ तस्मात् सङ्कीर्तनं विष्णोर्जगन्मङ्गलमंहसाम् । महतामपि कौरव्य विद्ध्यैकान्तिकनिष्कृतम् ॥ ३१ ॥
bhū-dvīpa-varṣa-sarid-adri-nabhaḥ-samudra- pātāla-diṅ-naraka-bhāgaṇa-loka-saṁsthā gītā mayā tava nṛpādbhutam īśvarasya sthūlaṁ vapuḥ sakala-jīva-nikāya-dhāma
王よ、私は地上界と他の諸世界、その諸地域、河川と山岳、天空、海洋、下界、方位、地獄界、そして星々を汝に説き示した。これらすべては、万有の生命が依りかかるところの、主の驚嘆すべき粗大なる巨身――ヴィラート・ヴァプ（virāṭ-vapu）の広がりである。
Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the Fifth Canto, Twenty-sixth Chapter, of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled “A Description of the Hellish Planets.”
FAQs
This verse states that the Lord’s gross universal form contains all cosmic arrangements—continents, oceans, directions, subterranean realms, hells, luminaries, and planetary systems—serving as the comprehensive abode of all beings.
In Canto 5 Chapter 26, Śukadeva explains the consequences of karma and the structure of the cosmos; by framing it as the Lord’s universal form, he connects moral responsibility and cosmology to remembrance of the Supreme.
It cultivates humility and accountability—seeing all realms and outcomes within the Lord’s order—encouraging ethical living and steady remembrance of God beyond narrow material identity.