Vamana Purana — Karmic Causes of Narakas, Shloka 2
Karmic Causes of Narakas and the Irremediability of Ingratitude (Kṛtaghna-doṣa)
ऋषय ऊचुः कर्मणा येन येनेह यान्ति शालकटङ्कट स्वकर्मफलभोगार्थं नरकान् मे शृणुष्व तान्
ṛṣaya ūcuḥ karmaṇā yena yeneha yānti śālakaṭaṅkaṭa svakarmaphalabhogārthaṃ narakān me śṛṇuṣva tān
ഋഷികൾ പറഞ്ഞു—ഹേ ശാലകടങ്കട, ഏത് ഏത് കർമം മൂലം മനുഷ്യർ ഇവിടെ (ആ അവസ്ഥകളിലേക്കു) പോകുന്നുവോ, സ്വന്തം കർമഫലഭോഗത്തിനായിട്ടാണ് അവർ നരകങ്ങളിൽ പ്രവേശിക്കുന്നത്—ആ നരകങ്ങളെ എന്നിൽ നിന്ന് കേൾക്കുക.
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FAQs
The governing principle is personal moral accountability: one undergoes results that are ‘one’s own’ (sva-karma). Punishment is not arbitrary; it is framed as experiential fruition (bhoga) of causally connected deeds.
This is dharma/karma exposition embedded in dialogue—ancillary instruction supporting Purāṇic religious education. It does not directly instantiate the five defining topics but functions as normative teaching often interwoven with them.
The phrase ‘svakarmaphalabhogārtham’ signals a cosmic moral order: the universe is intelligible as an ethical field where experiences correspond to prior choices. Naraka becomes not merely a place, but a symbol of consequence and moral pedagogy.