Vamana Purana — Karmic Causes of Narakas, Shloka 14
Karmic Causes of Narakas and the Irremediability of Ingratitude (Kṛtaghna-doṣa)
एकपङ्क्त्युपविष्टानां विषमं भोजयन्ति ये विड्भोजनं राक्षसेन्द्र नरकं ते व्रजन्ति च
ekapaṅktyupaviṣṭānāṃ viṣamaṃ bhojayanti ye viḍbhojanaṃ rākṣasendra narakaṃ te vrajanti ca
ஓ ராக்ஷசேந்திரா! ஒரே வரிசையில் அமர்ந்தவர்களுக்கு சமமின்றி உணவு அளிப்போர் ‘விட்போஜன’ எனப்படும் நரகத்திற்கும் செல்கின்றனர்।
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FAQs
Fairness in giving is part of dharma: when a community meal is undertaken, discrimination and partiality in serving are treated as a serious moral fault, because it humiliates and harms others at the most basic level of sustenance.
As with many Purāṇas, the text includes dharma-śikṣā (ethical instruction) alongside the pancalakṣaṇa topics. This passage is best categorized as karmic/dharmic instruction rather than cosmology or genealogy.
The hell-name ‘Viḍbhojana’ (excrement-eating) is a reversal-symbol: one who degrades others at a sacred meal is themselves assigned the most degrading ‘meal,’ dramatizing the inversion of dignity.