Vamana Purana — Karmic Causes of Narakas, Shloka 16

Karmic Causes of Narakas and the Irremediability of Ingratitude (Kṛtaghna-doṣa)

Devanagari script

गोब्राह्णणाग्नयः स्पृष्टा यैरुच्छिष्टैः क्षपाचर क्षिप्यन्ते हि करास्तेषां तप्तसुम्भे सुदारुणे

Transliteration

gobrāhṇaṇāgnayaḥ spṛṣṭā yairucchiṣṭaiḥ kṣapācara kṣipyante hi karāsteṣāṃ taptasumbhe sudāruṇe

Translation

हे क्षपाचर! ज्यांच्या उच्छिष्ट-दोषाने गाय, ब्राह्मण किंवा पवित्र अग्नी स्पर्शिला जातो, त्यांच्या हातांना अतिभयंकर तापलेल्या कढईत टाकले जाते।

Word by Word

• go-brāhmaṇa-agnayaḥ: cows, brāhmaṇas, and sacred fires
• go-brāhmaṇa-agnayaḥ: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: go (प्रातिपदिक) + brāhmaṇa (प्रातिपदिक) + agni (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Plural; इतरेतर-द्वन्द्वः (cows, brāhmaṇas, and fires)

• spṛṣṭāḥ: touched/defiled by touch
• spṛṣṭāḥ: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √spṛś (धातु) → spṛṣṭa (कृदन्त, क्त)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Plural; past passive participle (क्त), agreeing with go-brāhmaṇa-agnayaḥ

• yaiḥ: by whom
• yaiḥ: Karaṇa (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Instrumental (3rd/तृतीया), Plural; relative pronoun

• ucchiṣṭaiḥ: with leftovers/impurity
• ucchiṣṭaiḥ: Karaṇa (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ucchiṣṭa (प्रातिपदिक/कृदन्त)
• Form: Neuter, Instrumental (3rd/तृतीया), Plural; ‘leftover/impure (food remnants)’

• kṣapā-cara: O night-roamer (rākṣasa)
• kṣapā-cara: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṣapā (प्रातिपदिक) + cara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Vocative (8th/सम्बोधन), Singular; समासः—क्षपायां चरः (tatpuruṣa)

• kṣipyante: are thrown
• kṣipyante: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √kṣip (धातु)
• Form: Laṭ (Present/लट्), Ātmanepada, 3rd Person (प्रथमपुरुष), Plural; passive/reflexive sense ‘are thrown’

• hi: indeed/for
• hi: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: hi (अव्यय)
• Form: Particle (निश्चय/हेतु)

• karāḥ: hands
• karāḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Plural

• teṣām: of them
• teṣām: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Plural; demonstrative pronoun

• tapta-sumbhe: in a heated furnace/cauldron
• tapta-sumbhe: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tapta (कृदन्त, √tap + क्त) + sumbha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Locative (7th/सप्तमी), Singular; समासः—तप्तः सुम्भः (heated furnace/cauldron)

• su-dāruṇe: very dreadful
• su-dāruṇe: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: su (उपसर्ग/अव्यय) + dāruṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Locative (7th/सप्तमी), Singular; adjective qualifying tapta-sumbhe

Speakers

• Not specified in the provided excerpt (likely within the Pulastya–Nārada dialogue framework typical of the Purāṇa
• but not confirmable from these verses alone)

Primary Deities

• Yama (implied via hell-punishment context)

Key Themes

• Dharma
• Śauca (purity rules)
• Karma and retribution
• Ritual propriety

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Ritual and ethical discipline are treated as inseparable: careless impurity (ucchiṣṭa) becomes a moral fault when it pollutes protected sanctities—cow, brahmin, and sacrificial fire—thus generating severe karmic consequences.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana?

This is not sarga/pratisarga/vaṃśa material; it aligns best with dharma-nirdeśa embedded within the Purāṇic narrative stream, i.e., an ethical-ritual instruction segment ancillary to vaṃśānucarita/ākhyāna sections.

What is the symbolic significance?

Hands symbolize agency and action; the punishment targeting hands teaches that impure actions (especially those violating sacred boundaries) deform the doer’s very capacity to act, reflecting a karmic ‘fit’ between deed and result.