Shloka 27
नरकनामनिर्णयः
Catalogue of Narakas and Karmic Causes
यावंतो जंतवस्स्वर्गे तावंतो नरकौकसः । पापकृद्याति नरकं प्रायश्चित्तपराङ्मुखः
yāvaṃto jaṃtavassvarge tāvaṃto narakaukasaḥ | pāpakṛdyāti narakaṃ prāyaścittaparāṅmukhaḥ
天界にいる衆生の数だけ、地獄に住む者もまたいる。罪をなす者は、贖罪の行（プラーヤシュチッタ）に背を向けるとき、地獄へ赴く。
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pashu
Shiva Form: Paśupatinātha
Sthala Purana: General dharma-teaching context: the verse frames the moral cosmos (svarga/naraka) to motivate prāyaścitta and Śiva-oriented purification; not tied to a specific liṅga-sthala narrative.
Significance: Didactic: urges pilgrims/householders to avoid prāyaścitta-neglect (prāyaścitta-parāṅmukhatā), which is treated as a cause for continued bondage and fall into naraka.
Cosmic Event: Post-mortem karmaphala distribution (svarga/naraka) as a general cosmological frame
FAQs
It stresses moral accountability: heavenly reward is not the only destination—sin that is not purified through sincere prāyaścitta ripens into suffering. In Shaiva terms, unaddressed karma remains a form of pāśa (bondage) that obstructs grace and liberation.
Turning toward prāyaścitta implies turning toward Shiva’s purifying presence. Linga-worship, japa of the Panchākṣarī, and Shaiva observances are presented as concrete ways to realign the mind from wrongdoing toward devotion and purification under Saguna Shiva’s compassionate guidance.
Adopt prāyaścitta through confession, vrata (such as Mahāśivarātri discipline), Panchākṣarī japa ("Om Namaḥ Śivāya"), and purificatory Shaiva practices like Tripuṇḍra (bhasma) and Rudrākṣa with a resolve to abandon the sinful habit.