HomeVamana PuranaAdh. 11Shloka 57
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Shloka 57

Sukesha's Boon & Twelve DharmasSukesha’s Boon, the Twelve Dharmas of Beings, and the Cosmography of the Seven Dvipas with the Twenty-One Hells

संदंशो लोहपिण्डश्च करम्भसिकता तथा घोरा क्षारनदी चान्या तथान्यः कृमिभोजनः तथाष्टादशमी प्रोक्ता घोरा वैतरणी नदी

saṃdaṃśo lohapiṇḍaśca karambhasikatā tathā ghorā kṣāranadī cānyā tathānyaḥ kṛmibhojanaḥ tathāṣṭādaśamī proktā ghorā vaitaraṇī nadī

(നരകങ്ങളിൽ) സന്ദംശ, ലോഹപിണ്ഡ, കരംബസികതാ എന്നിവയുണ്ട്. മറ്റൊന്ന് ഭയങ്കരമായ ക്ഷാരനദി (ദാഹക നദി)യും, മറ്റൊന്ന് കൃമിഭോജനവും. ഇങ്ങനെ പതിനെട്ടാമതായി ഘോരമായ വൈതരണി നദി പ്രസ്താവിക്കപ്പെടുന്നു.

संदंशः(the hell named) Saṃdaṃśa
संदंशः:
Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
TypeNoun
Rootसंदंश (प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular)
लोहपिण्डः(the hell named) Iron-lump
लोहपिण्डः:
Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
TypeNoun
Rootलोह + पिण्ड (प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष/कर्मधारय-प्रायः (iron-lump)
and
:
Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/connector)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootच (अव्यय)
Formसमुच्चय-अव्यय (conjunction)
करम्भसिकता(the hell named) Karambha-sand
करम्भसिकता:
Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
TypeNoun
Rootकरम्भ + सिकता (प्रातिपदिक)
Formस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; द्वन्द्व-समास (gruel and sand)
तथाlikewise
तथा:
Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/connector)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootतथा (अव्यय)
Formअव्यय (adverb: ‘likewise/also’)
घोराterrible
घोरा:
Visheshana (विशेषण/Qualifier)
TypeAdjective
Rootघोर (प्रातिपदिक)
Formस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषण (qualifying)
क्षारनदी(the hell/river named) Alkali-river
क्षारनदी:
Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
TypeNoun
Rootक्षार + नदी (प्रातिपदिक)
Formस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (river of alkali)
and
:
Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/connector)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootच (अव्यय)
Formसमुच्चय-अव्यय (conjunction)
अन्याanother
अन्या:
Visheshana (विशेषण/Qualifier)
TypeAdjective
Rootअन्य (प्रातिपदिक)
Formस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषण (‘another’)
तथाlikewise
तथा:
Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/connector)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootतथा (अव्यय)
Formअव्यय (adverb)
अन्यःanother
अन्यः:
Visheshana (विशेषण/Qualifier)
TypeAdjective
Rootअन्य (प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषण (‘another’)
कृमिभोजनः(the hell named) Worm-food / worm-eating
कृमिभोजनः:
Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
TypeNoun
Rootकृमि + भोजन (प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (food of worms / worm-eating)
तथाlikewise
तथा:
Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/connector)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootतथा (अव्यय)
Formअव्यय (adverb)
अष्टादशमीthe eighteenth (named one)
अष्टादशमी:
Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
TypeNoun
Rootअष्टादश + मी (प्रातिपदिक)
Formस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; द्विगु-समास (the eighteenth [one])
प्रोक्ताis declared
प्रोक्ता:
Kriya (क्रिया/Predicative)
TypeVerb
Rootप्र + वच् (धातु) → प्रोक्त (कृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक)
Formभूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (past passive participle); स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; ‘said/declared’
घोराterrible
घोरा:
Visheshana (विशेषण/Qualifier)
TypeAdjective
Rootघोर (प्रातिपदिक)
Formस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषण
वैतरणीVaitaraṇī
वैतरणी:
Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
TypeNoun
Rootवैतरणी (प्रातिपदिक)
Formस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; नदी-नाम (proper noun)
नदीriver
नदी:
Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
TypeNoun
Rootनदी (प्रातिपदिक)
Formस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; अप्पोज़िशन (apposition to ‘Vaitaraṇī’)
Pulastya to Nārada (typical frame; not explicit in the provided excerpt)
Afterlife cosmographyNaraka enumerationKarma-phalaEschatological geography

{ "primaryRasa": "bhayanaka", "secondaryRasa": "bibhatsa", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

FAQs

The passage teaches accountability beyond death: adharma shapes one’s post-mortem trajectory, urging ethical living (ahiṃsā, satya, self-control, generosity) as protection against suffering states.

It functions as purāṇic instruction on karma and its results (phala-śruti style teaching). While not one of the five strict lakṣaṇas, it supports the Purāṇa’s dharmic mandate that undergirds vaṃśānucarita and narrative episodes.

Vaitaraṇī symbolizes the liminal crossing after death: a ‘river’ of consequences separating embodied life from retributive experience. Rivers like Kṣāranadī encode the idea that the moral ‘toxicity’ one generates becomes the environment one must traverse.