Shloka 69
Post-cremation Ripening of Karma and the Principal Narakas
पतन्ति निरये घोरे विड्भुजे नात्र संशयः / मधुग्राहो वैतरणीमाक्रोशी मूत्रसंज्ञके
patanti niraye ghore viḍbhuje nātra saṃśayaḥ / madhugrāho vaitaraṇīmākrośī mūtrasaṃjñake
彼らは恐るべき地獄「ヴィドブジャ（Viḍbhuja）」に堕ちる—これに疑いはない。（また同様に）「マドゥグラーハ（Madhugrāha）」へ、「ヴァイタラニー（Vaitaraṇī）」の河へ、「アークローシー（Ākrośī）」へ、そして「ムートラ（Mūtra）」と呼ばれる地獄へも投げ込まれる。
Lord Vishnu (in instruction to Garuda/Vinata-putra)
Afterlife Stage: Naraka
Concept: Specific adharma ripens into specific experiential results; the text stresses certainty (na atra saṃśayaḥ) of karmic fruition.
Vedantic Theme: Karma as binding force within saṃsāra; moral causality governing post-death experience.
Application: Treat ethical choices as consequential; avoid actions that degrade others and oneself; cultivate restraint, purity, and compassion.
Primary Rasa: bhayanaka
Secondary Rasa: bibhatsa
Type: multiple narakas and the Vaitaraṇī river
Related Themes: Garuda Purana Pretakalpa: sequential naraka listings and Vaitaraṇī crossing motifs in nearby chapters
FAQs
This verse lists Vaitaraṇī among the feared post-death torments in Yama’s domain, highlighting it as a key threshold of suffering tied to karmic consequences.
It presents the after-death route as including specific Narakas (hell-realms) and the Vaitaraṇī river, implying that certain karmas propel the jīva into defined stations of punishment rather than a vague, undifferentiated hell.
Treat actions as having inevitable results (“no doubt”): live ethically, avoid harm and impurity-driven conduct, and follow dharmic discipline and śrāddha-oriented responsibility to reduce fear and suffering associated with the afterlife.