Shloka 70
Adhyaya 14 — The Messenger of Yama Explains Karmic Retribution and the Causes of Naraka Torments
दुर्भिक्षे सम्भ्रमे वापि सोऽप्येवं यमकिङ्करैः ।
उत्कृत्य दत्तानि मुखे स्वमांसान्यश्नुते क्षुधा ॥
durbhikṣe sambhrame vāpi so 'pyevaṃ yamakiṅkaraiḥ / utkṛtya dattāni mukhe svamāṃsāny aśnute kṣudhā
ਕਾਲ ਜਾਂ ਡਰ ਦੇ ਵੇਲੇ ਯਮਦੂਤ ਉਸ ਨਾਲ ਵੀ ਇਉਂ ਹੀ ਕਰਦੇ ਹਨ—ਉਸ ਦਾ ਆਪਣਾ ਮਾਸ ਕੱਟ ਕੇ ਉਸ ਦੇ ਮੂੰਹ ਵਿੱਚ ਪਾ ਦਿੰਦੇ ਹਨ, ਅਤੇ ਉਹ ਭੁੱਖ ਨਾਲ ਮਜਬੂਰ ਹੋ ਕੇ ਉਹੀ ਖਾਂਦਾ ਹੈ।
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FAQs
Adharma committed under ‘emergency’ is still adharma. The verse warns that panic or scarcity does not justify cruelty; karmic order mirrors the harm done, turning the agent into the victim.
Primarily didactic dharma/karmaphala material, not sarga/pratisarga/vaṃśa/manvantara/vaṃśānucarita directly—yet typical of Purāṇas’ ethical instruction.
Eating one’s own flesh symbolizes self-devouring desire: when one makes survival an absolute, the self consumes itself. The ‘Yama-servants’ figure the inevitability of consequence.