Shloka 16
Vaitaraṇī: Torments of the Sinful, Sins Enumerated, and the Vaitaraṇī Go-dāna Rite
ब्राह्मणो रसविक्रेता तथा यो वृषलीपतिः / गोधनस्य तृषार्तस्य वाप्या भेदं करोति यः
brāhmaṇo rasavikretā tathā yo vṛṣalīpatiḥ / godhanasya tṛṣārtasya vāpyā bhedaṃ karoti yaḥ
మద్యాది మత్తుపదార్థాలను అమ్మే బ్రాహ్మణుడు, శూద్రస్త్రీని ప్రధాన భార్యగా ఉంచేవాడు, దాహంతో బాధపడే గోవుల కోసం చెరువు గట్టును పగులగొట్టేవాడు—ఇవన్నీ ఘోరపాపులుగా లెక్కించబడి పరలోకంలో దుఃఖఫలాన్ని పొందుతారు।
Lord Vishnu (speaking to Garuda)
Afterlife Stage: Yamaloka Journey
Concept: Adharma (social and ecological harm) produces severe pāpa and painful afterlife consequences.
Vedantic Theme: Karma-phala-niyama (inevitability of results of action) under dharma as a preparatory discipline for inner purity.
Application: Avoid intoxicant trade and exploitative sexuality; protect community water resources and relieve beings in distress (cattle, dependents).
Primary Rasa: bibhatsa
Secondary Rasa: bhayanaka
Related Themes: Garuda Purana Pretakalpa: lists of pāpa leading to naraka/vaitaraṇī (adjacent verses 2.47.17–20); Garuda Purana: dharma/ācāra sections condemning surā-vikraya and varṇa-saṅkara conduct (general)
FAQs
This verse lists concrete acts of adharma—misuse of sacred status, sexual/social transgression, and harm to shared resources—so a listener understands which behaviors generate heavy karmic burden and lead to post-death suffering.
In the Preta Kanda context, Vishnu explains that certain actions create severe pāpa that follows the jīva after death, becoming the basis for Yama’s judgment and the experience of painful results in the afterlife.
Avoid livelihood or conduct that harms society (intoxicant trade), protect vulnerable dependents like animals, and safeguard common resources such as water—these are direct ethical duties emphasized here.