Narada Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 58
Hari-nāma Mahimā and Caraṇāmṛta: The Redemption of the Hunter Gulika
Uttaṅka Itihāsa
अहो विधिः पापशता कुलं मां किं सृष्टवान्पापतरं च शश्वत् । कथं च यत्पापफलं हि भोक्ष्ये कियत्सु जन्मस्वहमुग्रकर्मा ॥ ५८ ॥
aho vidhiḥ pāpaśatā kulaṃ māṃ kiṃ sṛṣṭavānpāpataraṃ ca śaśvat | kathaṃ ca yatpāpaphalaṃ hi bhokṣye kiyatsu janmasvahamugrakarmā || 58 ||
അയ്യോ, എന്തൊരു വിധി! നൂറുകണക്കിന് പാപങ്ങളാൽ നിറഞ്ഞ കുലത്തിൽ എന്നെ എന്തിന് സൃഷ്ടിച്ചു, എന്നെ എപ്പോഴും കൂടുതൽ പാപിയാക്കിയത് എന്തിന്? ഞാൻ—ഘോരകർമ്മി—പാപഫലം എങ്ങനെ അനുഭവിക്കും, എത്ര ജന്മങ്ങൾ വരെ?
Narada (lamenting in a teaching-dialogue context with the Sanatkumara tradition)
Vrata: none
Primary Rasa: karuna
Secondary Rasa: bhayanaka
FAQs
This verse voices intense remorse and karmic awareness: the speaker recognizes that sinful actions (ugra-karma) inevitably yield pāpa-phala that must be experienced across births, prompting a turn toward purification and liberation-oriented dharma.
While not naming bhakti directly, the despair over pāpa-phala is the classic inner catalyst for surrender—seeking refuge in higher guidance and (in Narada Purana’s wider teaching) turning to Vishnu-bhakti and dharmic practice as the means to cleanse sin and redirect one’s destiny.
No specific Vedanga (like Vyākaraṇa, Jyotiṣa, or Kalpa) is taught in this verse; the practical takeaway is ethical causality—actions produce results—forming the foundation upon which Kalpa (ritual/prāyaścitta procedure) and Dharmaśāstra-style discipline operate in later instruction.