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
दुर्भिक्षे भयकाले वा तमपि यमदूताः तथा कुर्वन्ति—तस्य स्वमांसं छित्त्वा मुखे निक्षिपन्ति; स क्षुधार्तः तदेव भुङ्क्ते।
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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.