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Vamana Purana — Karmic Causes of Narakas, Shloka 19

Karmic Causes of Narakas and the Irremediability of Ingratitude (Kṛtaghna-doṣa)

बद्धाङ्घ्रयस्ते विगडैर्लोहैर्वाह्निप्रतापितैः क्षिप्यन्ते रौरवे घोरे ह्याजानुपरिदाहिनः

baddhāṅghrayaste vigaḍairlohairvāhnipratāpitaiḥ kṣipyante raurave ghore hyājānuparidāhinaḥ

వారి పాదాలు అగ్నిలో వేడెక్కించిన ఇనుప బంధనాలతో కట్టబడి, భయంకరమైన ‘రౌరవ’ నరకంలోకి విసిరివేయబడతారు; అక్కడ మోకాళ్ల వరకు చుట్టూరా దహించబడతారు.

baddha-aṅghrayaḥthose whose feet are bound
baddha-aṅghrayaḥ:
Karta (कर्ता)
TypeAdjective
Rootbaddha (कृदन्त, √bandh + क्त) + aṅghri (प्रातिपदिक)
FormMasculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Plural; बहुव्रीहिः—बद्धौ अङ्घ्री यस्य (whose feet are bound)
tethey
te:
Karta (कर्ता)
TypeNoun
Roottad (प्रातिपदिक)
FormMasculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Plural
vigaḍaiḥwith shackles
vigaḍaiḥ:
Karaṇa (करण)
TypeNoun
Rootvigaḍa (प्रातिपदिक)
FormMasculine/Neuter, Instrumental (3rd/तृतीया), Plural; ‘fetters/shackles’
lohaiḥwith iron
lohaiḥ:
Karaṇa (करण)
TypeNoun
Rootloha (प्रातिपदिक)
FormNeuter, Instrumental (3rd/तृतीया), Plural
vahni-pratāpitaiḥheated by fire
vahni-pratāpitaiḥ:
Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
TypeAdjective
Rootvahni (प्रातिपदिक) + pratāpita (कृदन्त, √tap + णिच् + क्त)
FormNeuter, Instrumental (3rd/तृतीया), Plural; adjective qualifying lohaiḥ; समासः—वह्निना प्रतापित (heated by fire)
kṣipyanteare thrown
kṣipyante:
Kriyā (क्रिया)
TypeVerb
Root√kṣip (धातु)
FormLaṭ (Present/लट्), Ātmanepada, 3rd Person (प्रथमपुरुष), Plural; passive sense ‘are thrown’
rauravein Raurava (hell)
raurave:
Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
TypeNoun
Rootraurava (प्रातिपदिक)
FormMasculine/Neuter, Locative (7th/सप्तमी), Singular; name of a hell
ghoreterrible
ghore:
Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
TypeAdjective
Rootghora (प्रातिपदिक)
FormMasculine/Neuter, Locative (7th/सप्तमी), Singular; qualifying raurave
hiindeed
hi:
Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
TypeIndeclinable
Roothi (अव्यय)
FormParticle (निश्चय)
ā-jānu-paridāhinaḥburning all around up to the knees
ā-jānu-paridāhinaḥ:
Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
TypeAdjective
Rootā (उपसर्ग) + jānu (प्रातिपदिक) + paridāhin (प्रातिपदिक/कृदन्त from pari-√dah)
FormMasculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Plural; अव्ययीभावः—आजानु (up to the knees) + परिदाहिन् ‘burning all around’; qualifying te
Narrative frame likely Pulastya → Nārada (common Vāmana Purāṇa dialogue layer); specific speaker not explicit in the excerpt
DharmaKarmaphalaNarakaEthicsPurāṇic cosmology

{ "primaryRasa": "bhayanaka", "secondaryRasa": "raudra", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

FAQs

Actions have inevitable consequences (karmaphala). The verse uses vivid punitive imagery to cultivate moral restraint and reinforce accountability—particularly that harmful or adharmic conduct leads to suffering proportionate to the deed.

This fits most closely under secondary creation/cosmological description (often grouped with sarga/pratisarga material in Purāṇic composition) and didactic dharma-kathana; it is not vamśānucarita but an ethical-cosmological excursus.

Heated iron fetters symbolize self-forged bondage: one’s own deeds become the ‘chains’ that drag the soul into painful states. The ‘up to the knees’ burning emphasizes inescapability and totalizing consequence rather than a literal anatomical focus.