Shloka 7
Post-cremation Ripening of Karma and the Principal Narakas
तन्मध्ये पापकर्माणं विमुञ्चन्ति यमानुगाः / स दह्यमानस्तीव्रेण वह्निना परिधावति
tanmadhye pāpakarmāṇaṃ vimuñcanti yamānugāḥ / sa dahyamānastīvreṇa vahninā paridhāvati
Di tengah-tengahnya, para pengiring Yama melepaskan pelaku dosa. Terbakar oleh api yang ganas, dia berlari ke sana sini dalam azab yang pedih.
Lord Vishnu (narrating to Garuda/Vinata-putra)
Afterlife Stage: Naraka
Concept: Yama’s attendants execute the fruition of papa; suffering is experienced directly by the doer of sinful acts.
Vedantic Theme: Karma as impersonal law administered through cosmic order; the jīva reaps its own actions (svakṛta-phala-bhoktṛtva).
Application: Take responsibility for actions; choose truth and integrity now to avoid later compulsion and pain; practice ethical self-audit.
Primary Rasa: karuna
Secondary Rasa: bhayanaka
Type: ember-field/punishment ground
Related Themes: Continuation of Raurava narrative; references to yama-anugas as executors recur throughout Pretakalpa
FAQs
This verse shows them as executors of karmic consequence—releasing the sinner into a tormenting condition so that the fruits of pāpa-karma are experienced.
In the Preta Kanda narrative, the departed being is led into Yama’s domain, where specific punishments manifest according to karma; here, the sinner is made to suffer burning heat, indicating a punitive stage of the post-death journey.
Avoid harmful actions and cultivate dharmic conduct; the verse frames ethics as spiritually consequential, encouraging restraint, repentance, and meritorious deeds to lessen post-death suffering.