Shloka 28
Yama-mārga (Adhvan) and the Courts of Yama: Vaivasvatī and Chitragupta
न मुह्यति कदाचित् स सुकृते दुष्कृते ऽपि वा / यद्येनोपार्जितं यावत् तावद्वै वेत्ति तस्य तत्
na muhyati kadācit sa sukṛte duṣkṛte 'pi vā / yadyenopārjitaṃ yāvat tāvadvai vetti tasya tat
അവൻ ഒരിക്കലും മോഹിതനാകുന്നില്ല—പുണ്യത്താലും അല്ല, പാപത്താലും അല്ല. അവൻ സമ്പാദിച്ചുകൂട്ടിയ കര്മ്മം എത്രയോ, അത്രയേ അവൻ അതിനെ തന്റെതെന്നു യഥാർത്ഥമായി അറിയുന്നു।
Lord Vishnu (in instruction to Garuda/Vinata-putra)
Afterlife Stage: Yamaloka Journey
Concept: A being is not deluded by punya or papa; one knows one’s own accumulated karma exactly to its measure.
Vedantic Theme: Karma-phala-niyati and svātma-sākṣitva (the inescapable witnessing/ownership of one’s deeds), supporting vairāgya and moral responsibility.
Application: Daily self-audit of actions and intentions; cultivate non-self-deception about ‘good’ and ‘bad’ deeds and accept consequences as one’s own.
Primary Rasa: shanta
Related Themes: Garuda Purana Pretakalpa: Chitragupta’s record-keeping and Yama’s judgment motifs (adjacent verses in 2.33); Garuda Purana: karma-phala certainty and post-mortem accounting themes across Pretakalpa sections
FAQs
This verse stresses that the jīva is not blindly confused about its moral record; it recognizes its earned merit and sin, which supports the Purana’s teaching that post-death experiences correspond to one’s own accumulated actions.
It implies continuity of moral cognition: the soul carries an inner knowing of its sukṛta and duṣkṛta, aligning with the Garuda Purana’s broader account of judgment-like experiences where results arise from one’s own karma rather than randomness.
Live with accountability: treat every action as something you will ‘own’ and understand later; cultivate sukṛta through dharma and reduce duṣkṛta through restraint, confession, and corrective conduct.