Shloka 24

Nīti for Calamity, Wealth, Friendship, Charity, and Restraint of Kāma

Devanagari script

नग्ना व्यसनिनो रूक्षाः कपालाङ्कितपाणयः / दर्शयन्तीह लोकस्य अदातुः फलमीदृशम्

Transliteration

nagnā vyasanino rūkṣāḥ kapālāṅkitapāṇayaḥ / darśayantīha lokasya adātuḥ phalamīdṛśam

Translation

നഗ്നരായി, വ്യസനാസക്തരായി, രൂക്ഷസ്വഭാവമുള്ളവരായി—കപാലചിഹ്നം പതിഞ്ഞ കൈകളോടെ—ഇവിടെ ലോകത്തിന് കാണിക്കപ്പെടുന്നു; ദാനം ചെയ്യാത്തവന് ലഭിക്കുന്ന ഫലം ഇത്തരമെന്നു.

Word by Word

• नग्नाः: naked
• नग्नाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नग्न (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन; विशेषण

• व्यसनिनः: addicted, afflicted by vice/misfortune
• व्यसनिनः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: व्यसनिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन; विशेषण

• रूक्षाः: harsh, rough
• रूक्षाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: रूक्ष (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन; विशेषण

• कपालाङ्कितपाणयः: those whose hands are marked with skulls
• कपालाङ्कितपाणयः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कपाल + अङ्कित + पाणि (प्रातिपदिक); कपाल-अङ्कित-पाणि
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन; समासः—षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष/कर्मधारयभावः (कपालैः अङ्किताः पाणयः यस्य)

• दर्शयन्ति: they show
• दर्शयन्ति: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: दृश् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), बहुवचन

• इह: here
• इह: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इह (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; देशवाचक अव्यय (adverb of place)

• लोकस्य: of the world/people
• लोकस्य: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: लोक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन

• अदातुः: of the non-giver
• अदातुः: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अदातृ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन; नञ्-समास/उपसर्गयुक्त (a-giver)

• फलम्: result, fruit
• फलम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: फल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• ईदृशम्: such, like this
• ईदृशम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ईदृश (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; विशेषण (फलम् इति)

Speaker

Lord Vishnu (in dialogue to Garuda/Vinata-putra)

Pretakalpa Layer

Afterlife Stage: Naraka

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Adāna (refusal to give) yields visible, degrading karmaphala; charity protects dignity and future welfare.

Vedantic Theme: Karma-bandha and its tangible fruits; attachment to wealth (lobha) as a binding impurity.

Application: Practice regular dāna (food, clothing, money) according to capacity; cultivate generosity to counter greed.

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: bibhatsa

Secondary Rasa: bhayanaka

Geographic Context

Type: court/roadside spectacle in the afterlife

Cross References

Related Themes: Garuda Purana Pretakalpa: dāna-nindā and kṛpaṇa-phala passages around 1.109; Garuda Purana: descriptions of sinners being displayed/tormented in Yama’s realm (general Pretakalpa motif)

FAQs

What is the importance of dāna (charity) in the Garuda Purana?

This verse presents dāna as a decisive karmic factor: refusing to give leads to degrading, publicly demonstrative suffering that serves as a warning to others.

How does this verse explain the path of the soul after death?

It implies that specific moral failures—here, being a non-giver—produce identifiable post-death states and punishments, where the sinner’s condition becomes a didactic display of karma-phala.

Practical application of this wisdom today?

Cultivate regular giving (food, money, service, support to the needy) and reduce addictive habits and harshness—because generosity and self-restraint are treated as protections against severe karmic outcomes.