Shloka 27
अध्याय २९७ — श्रेयः, धृति, दान-नियमाः
Welfare, Steadfastness, and Norms of Giving
ऊर्ध्व॑ भित्त्वा प्रतिष्ठन्ते प्राणा: पुण्यवतां नूप । मध्यतो मध्यपुण्यानामधो दुष्कृतकर्मणाम्
ūrdhvaṁ bhittvā pratiṣṭhante prāṇāḥ puṇyavatāṁ nṛpa | madhyato madhya-puṇyānām adho duṣkṛta-karmaṇām rājān ||
पराशर उवाच—राजन्, पुण्यवतां प्राणाः ऊर्ध्वं ब्रह्मरन्ध्रं भित्त्वा निष्क्रामन्ति; मध्यपुण्यानां तु मध्यद्वारैः; दुष्कृतकर्मणां पुनरधोऽधोद्वारैः।
पराशर उवाच
Educational Q&A
A person’s moral and spiritual quality (puṇya vs. duṣkṛta) is reflected at death in the ‘path’ by which prāṇa departs: upward through the brahma-randhra for the highly meritorious, through middle openings for middling merit, and downward for those dominated by sinful action—linking ethical conduct with one’s final transition.
Parāśara instructs a king about the signs and implications of death, describing three modes of prāṇa’s departure corresponding to three grades of karma, thereby teaching the king an ethical-yogic view of how life’s deeds shape the moment of dying.