Vamana Purana — Karmic Causes of Narakas, Shloka 50
Karmic Causes of Narakas and the Irremediability of Ingratitude (Kṛtaghna-doṣa)
धान्येषु शलिर्द्विपदेषु विप्रः चतुष्पदे गौः श्वपदां मृगेन्द्रः पुष्पेषु जाती नगरेषु काञ्ची नारीषु रम्भा श्रमीणां गृहस्थः
dhānyeṣu śalirdvipadeṣu vipraḥ catuṣpade gauḥ śvapadāṃ mṛgendraḥ puṣpeṣu jātī nagareṣu kāñcī nārīṣu rambhā śramīṇāṃ gṛhasthaḥ
穀物の中ではシャーリ（śāli、米）が最良であり、二足のものの中ではヴィプラ（vipra、バラモン）が最勝である。四足のものの中では牛が第一であり、野獣の中では獅子（mṛgendra）が王である。花の中ではジャーティ（jāti、茉莉）が最上であり、都市の中ではカーñチー（Kāñcī）が最も優れ、女人の中ではランバー（Rambhā）が卓越する。さらに、アーシュラマ（人生の四住期）の中ではグリハスタ（gṛhastha、家住者）が首位である。
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FAQs
The verse teaches a dharma-oriented valuation of the world: nourishment (rice), learning and ritual stewardship (brāhmaṇa), non-violence and sustenance (cow), natural sovereignty (lion), refinement (jasmine), cultured sacred urbanity (Kāñcī), idealized beauty (Rambhā), and the social-spiritual centrality of gārhasthya, which supports other āśramas through hospitality, charity, and progeny.
Primarily didactic/ācāra material rather than strict cosmology or genealogy; it aligns most closely with Dharma/Ācāra instruction embedded within Purāṇic narration (often catalogued under ancillary teaching within Vamśānucarita-era discourse rather than Sarga/Pratisarga proper).
The ‘best-of’ list encodes Purāṇic cultural ideals: the cow symbolizes abundance and ahiṃsā; the brāhmaṇa symbolizes śruti-smṛti preservation; the householder symbolizes the economic and ritual foundation of society; Kāñcī symbolizes a civilizational center; Rambhā symbolizes aesthetic excellence used as a benchmark in kāvya and Purāṇic diction.