Shloka 87
Santaptaka’s Encounter with Five Pretas and Their Liberation through Viṣṇu’s Presence
व्याघ्रेण महातारण्ये नखटङ्कैर्विटङ्कितः / लेखनात्प्रतिमाया यन्मया लोहेन कर्तितम्
vyāghreṇa mahātāraṇye nakhaṭaṅkairviṭaṅkitaḥ / lekhanātpratimāyā yanmayā lohena kartitam
Di dalam hutan yang luas dan menakutkan itu, aku dicakar oleh kuku harimau; dan apa yang telah aku bentuk daripada besi—sebuah imej yang diukir—menjadi punca penderitaanku.
Preta (departed soul) speaking to Yama’s attendants (implied narrative of after-death experience within the Preta Kanda); framed in the Vishnu–Garuda dialogue
Concept: Karma ripens through unexpected instruments (a tiger, an iron-made image); one’s crafted deeds become one’s ‘inscription’ of suffering.
Vedantic Theme: Karmic causality operates impersonally; the doer cannot outrun the results of adharma.
Application: See consequences as feedback; abandon harmful crafts/plots; redirect skill (lekhana/metalwork) toward dharmic ends.
Primary Rasa: bhayanaka
Secondary Rasa: karuna
Type: forest/wilderness
Related Themes: Pretakalpa motif: bodily marks and fear as precursors/echoes of naraka suffering (general)
FAQs
The verse links a specific painful experience (being clawed in a dreadful forest) to one’s prior deeds, emphasizing that actions—especially those involving harm or wrongful making—ripen into corresponding after-death suffering.
It presents the soul’s post-mortem journey as passing through fearsome regions where karmic results are directly felt in embodied-like pain, consistent with Preta Kanda descriptions of Yama’s domains.
Act with integrity in one’s craft and livelihood, avoid harmful or unethical creations, and cultivate dharmic conduct—since even “small” deeds can produce intense consequences later.