Narada Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 21

Pāpa-bheda, Naraka-yātanā, Mahāpātaka-vicāra, Atonement Limits, Daśa-vidhā Bhakti, and Gaṅgā as Final Remedy

Devanagari script

अपि वर्षसहस्त्रेण नाहं निगदितुं क्षमः । एतेषु यस्य यत्प्राप्तं पापिनः क्षितिरक्षक ॥ २१ ॥

Transliteration

api varṣasahastreṇa nāhaṃ nigadituṃ kṣamaḥ | eteṣu yasya yatprāptaṃ pāpinaḥ kṣitirakṣaka || 21 ||

Translation

နှစ်ပေါင်းတစ်ထောင်ကြာလျှင်ပင် ကျွန်ုပ်သည် ၎င်းကို အပြည့်အဝ ဖော်ပြနိုင်မည် မဟုတ်ပါ။ အို မြေကမ္ဘာကို စောင့်ရှောက်သူ၊ ဤအပြစ်သားများထဲတွင် တစ်ဦးစီသည် မိမိတို့ရရှိမည့် အကျိုးဆက်ကို ခံစားကြရသည်။

Word by Word

• अपि: even, even if
• अपि: Nipāta (निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, सम्भावना/अपेक्षा/अपि-शब्द (particle: even/also)

• वर्ष-सहस्त्रेण: with/over a thousand years
• वर्ष-सहस्त्रेण: Karaṇa (करण/तृतीया)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वर्ष (प्रातिपदिक) + सहस्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग ‘सहस्र’, तृतीया (Instrumental/तृतीया), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समास (वर्षाणां सहस्रम्)

• न: not
• न: Nishedha (निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, निषेध-निपात (negation)

• अहम्: I
• अहम्: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: उत्तमपुरुष-सर्वनाम, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• निगदितुम्: to describe, to tell
• निगदितुम्: Prayojana (प्रयोजन/क्रियार्थ)
• Type: Verb
• Root: निगद् (धातु √गद् ‘to speak’ + नि-उपसर्ग) (धातु)
• Form: तुमुन्-प्रत्ययान्त (infinitive), क्रियार्थक-भाव (to say/describe)

• क्षमः: capable
• क्षमः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: क्षम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषण (अहम्)

• एतेषु: among these (tortures)
• एतेषु: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण/सप्तमी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: एतद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसक (contextual), सप्तमी (Locative/सप्तमी), बहुवचन

• यस्य: of whom, whose
• यस्य: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन; सम्बन्धे (relative pronoun)

• यत्: whatever (punishment)
• यत्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; सम्बन्धक (relative)

• प्राप्तम्: has been obtained/assigned
• प्राप्तम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र-आप् (धातु √आप् ‘to obtain’ + प्र-उपसर्ग) (धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (past passive participle), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; ‘(has been) obtained/assigned’

• पापिनः: of the sinner
• पापिनः: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पापिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (Genitive) एकवचन (or प्रथमा बहुवचन—पाठसन्दर्भे ‘यस्य ... पापिनः’ इति षष्ठी एकवचन अधिकयुक्त); सम्बन्धे

• क्षिति-रक्षक: O protector of the earth (king)
• क्षिति-रक्षक: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्षिति (प्रातिपदिक) + रक्षक (प्रातिपदिक; √रक्ष्)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समास (क्षितेः रक्षकः)

Speaker

A sage/narrator addressing a king (kṣitirakṣaka)

Vrata Kalpa

Vrata: none

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: bhayanaka

Secondary Rasa: shanta

FAQs

What is the spiritual significance of this verse in Narada Purana?

It emphasizes the vast, intricate law of karma: the outcomes of sin are innumerable and individualized, and no single narration can exhaustively list how pāpa bears fruit for different beings.

How does this verse explain the path of devotion (Bhakti)?

By highlighting the fearful complexity of pāpa-phala, it implicitly points to the need for higher refuge—classically, devotion to Bhagavān and dhārmic living—as the reliable means to transcend karmic entanglement.

What practical Vedic knowledge (Vedanga) is highlighted here?

The verse chiefly teaches karma-phala discernment rather than a specific Vedāṅga; practically, it supports Dharma-śāstra style ethical reasoning used by kings and householders to evaluate actions and consequences.