Varaha Purana 202.7 — Adhyaya 202, Shloka 7
Description of Infernal Punishments and the Ripening of Karmic Consequences
शयनासनहर्त्तारमग्निदायी च यो नरः ॥ वैतरण्यामयं चैव क्षिप्यतामचिरं पुनः ॥
śayanāsanaharttāram agnidāyī ca yo naraḥ || vaitaraṇyāmayaṃ caiva kṣipyatām aciraṃ punaḥ ||
“The man who steals beds and seats, and the one who gives (i.e., sets) fire—let him be swiftly cast again into the Vaitaraṇī-related torment.”
Varāha (default, instructor voice in Varāha–Pṛthivī dialogue framework)
Varaha Avatara Context: {"is_varaha_focus":false,"aspect_highlighted":"None","boar_form_detail":"None","earth_interaction":"None"}
Bhu Devi Dialogue: {"is_dialogue":false,"speaker_role":"instructor","bhu_devi_state":"None","key_question":"None"}
Mathura Mandala: {"is_mathura_related":false,"specific_site":"None","parikrama_context":"None","krishna_connection":"None"}
Dharma Shastra: {"has_dharma_rule":true,"topic":"None","instruction_summary":"Stealing beds/seats and committing arson are grave property-violations leading to swift punitive afterlife retribution (Vaitaraṇī-torment).","karmic_consequence":"Rapid casting into Vaitaraṇī-associated suffering; intensified post-mortem torment for theft and arson."}
Vrata Mahatmya: {"has_vrata":false,"vrata_name":"None","tithi_month":"None","promised_fruit":"None"}
Cosmic Boar Symbolism: {"has_symbolism":false,"symbolic_interpretation":"None","yajna_varaha_imagery":"None","vedantic_connection":"None"}
Philosophical Teaching: {"has_teaching":true,"teaching_type":"karma-phalavada / ethical causality","core_concept":"Adharma against social trust (theft, arson) ripens into proportionate suffering; harm to communal safety rebounds upon the agent.","practical_application":"Guard others’ property and public safety; treat shared goods (beds/seats, dwellings) as protected; avoid violence-by-fire and restitution-denial."}
Subject Matter: ["Ethics","Property Offenses","Karmic Consequences"]
Primary Rasa: bhayanaka
Secondary Rasa: raudra
Type: otherworldly river/hell-region
Related Themes: Varāha Purāṇa 202 (nāraka/daṇḍa sequence around Vaitaraṇī and specific sins)
Visual Art Cues: {"scene_description":"A judge-like divine ordinance scene: sinners who stole bedding/seating and arsonists are seized by messengers and hurled toward a dark, churning Vaitaraṇī-like expanse.","item_prompts":["terrifying river labeled Vaitaraṇī","yamadūtas with ropes","stolen bed/seat as symbolic props","flames/smoke indicating arson","fearful sinners falling/being dragged"],"kerala_mural_prompt":"Kerala mural style, flat yet vivid palette; Varāha as authoritative instructor in the margin; yamadūtas dragging sinners toward a dark river; strong linework, minimal perspective.","tanjore_prompt":"Tanjore style with gold-leaf aura around the divine lawgiver; stylized river and flames; ornate borders; sinners and attendants in compact composition.","mysore_prompt":"Mysore painting style, delicate shading; detailed expressions of fear; subdued infernal landscape with precise ornaments on attendants.","pahari_prompt":"Pahari miniature style, layered hills replaced by layered dark bands of river; narrative clarity with small figures, expressive faces, and symbolic bed/seat and fire motifs."}
Audio Atmosphere: {"recitation_mood":"stern admonition","suggested_raga":"Bhairavi","pace":"medium-slow","voice_tone":"grave, judicial, clipped enunciation on punitive verbs"}
FAQs
It preserves conventional South Asian moral taxonomies (theft, arson) within Purāṇic eschatological imagery, showing how social harms were narrated through afterlife topoi.
Vaitaraṇī is presented as an infernal river motif; it is not a mapped terrestrial site in this context but a moral-eschatological landscape.
The verse condemns theft of essential household goods and arson as severe breaches of social order and safety.
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