Shloka 7
Bhūmi-dāna, Satya-dharma, and the Non-cancellation of Sin by Charity
हरन्तमपि लोभेन निरुध्यैनं निवारयेत् / स याति नरके घोरे यस्तं न परिरक्षति
harantamapi lobhena nirudhyainaṃ nivārayet / sa yāti narake ghore yastaṃ na parirakṣati
ലോഭം കൊണ്ടു മറ്റുള്ളവരുടെ വസ്തു കവർന്നെടുക്കുന്നവനെ കെട്ടിനിര്ത്തി തടയണം. അവനെ തടഞ്ഞു രക്ഷിക്കാത്തവൻ ഭയങ്കര നരകത്തിലേക്ക് പോകുന്നു.
Lord Vishnu (in dialogue to Garuda/Vinata-putra)
Afterlife Stage: Naraka
Concept: Dharma includes restraining wrongdoing; omission (not protecting others from greed-driven harm) incurs severe karmic consequence leading to hell.
Vedantic Theme: Ahimsā and loka-saṅgraha: sustaining social order is part of righteous living; negligence (pramāda) binds through karma.
Application: Intervene to prevent exploitation and theft within one’s capacity—through counsel, reporting, safeguarding the vulnerable, and creating deterrent systems; do not normalize wrongdoing by silence.
Primary Rasa: raudra
Secondary Rasa: bhayanaka
Type: otherworldly-region
Related Themes: Garuda Purana naraka descriptions for social harms and negligence; Garuda Purana dharma-nīti passages on protecting others
FAQs
This verse teaches that dharma includes actively restraining greed-driven theft; failing to protect others from harm becomes a karmic fault that leads to Naraka.
It links moral negligence to post-death consequences: one who allows theft to continue accrues demerit (pāpa) and is said to go to a dreadful hell (naraka), a key Preta Kanda theme about afterlife accountability.
Do not enable wrongdoing: discourage theft, report or stop harmful acts when safe, and protect others’ rights and property—ethical intervention is presented as part of one’s duty.