Shloka 36

Yama-mārga (Adhvan) and the Courts of Yama: Vaivasvatī and Chitragupta

Devanagari script

अन्ये ज्वलद्भिरङ्गारैर्वेष्टिताः परितो भृशम् / पूर्वकर्मविपाकेन ध्मायन्ते लोहपिण्डवत्

Transliteration

anye jvaladbhiraṅgārairveṣṭitāḥ parito bhṛśam / pūrvakarmavipākena dhmāyante lohapiṇḍavat

Translation

บางพวกถูกล้อมรัดอย่างแน่นหนาด้วยถ่านคุกรุ่นเพลิงรอบด้าน ด้วยวิบากแห่งกรรมก่อน เขาถูกเป่ากระพือให้ลุกไหม้ดุจก้อนเหล็กในเตาหลอม

Word by Word

• anye: others
• anye: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: anya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन

• jvaladbhiḥ: with blazing
• jvaladbhiḥ: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: jval (धातु)
• Form: वर्तमानकाले शतृ-प्रत्यय (present active participle), पुं/नपुंसक, तृतीया (3rd), बहुवचन

• aṅgāraiḥ: with coals/embers
• aṅgāraiḥ: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: aṅgāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd), बहुवचन

• veṣṭitāḥ: wrapped/encircled
• veṣṭitāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: veṣṭ (धातु)
• Form: भूतकाले क्त-प्रत्यय (past passive participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन

• paritaḥ: all around
• paritaḥ: Sambandha (Manner/प्रकार)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: paritaḥ (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; देशवाचक/परिसरार्थ (adverb: around)

• bhṛśam: severely, greatly
• bhṛśam: Sambandha (Manner/प्रकार)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: bhṛśam (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; तीव्रतावाचक (adverb: intensely)

• pūrvakarmavipākena: by the ripening of past karma
• pūrvakarmavipākena: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pūrva (प्रातिपदिक) + karman (प्रातिपदिक) + vipāka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd), एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुष (पूर्वकर्मणः विपाकेन)

• dhmāyante: are heated/blown upon
• dhmāyante: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: dhmā (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), बहुवचन; आत्मनेपद; कर्मणि-प्रयोग (passive sense: are blown/are heated)

• lohapiṇḍavat: like an iron ball
• lohapiṇḍavat: Sambandha (Manner/प्रकार)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: loha (प्रातिपदिक) + piṇḍa (प्रातिपदिक) + vat (तद्धित)
• Form: अव्यय; उपमानवाचक (like a lump of iron)

Speaker

Lord Vishnu (narrating to Garuda/Vinata-putra)

Pretakalpa Layer

Afterlife Stage: Naraka

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: पूर्वकर्मविपाक: ripening of past actions manifests as intense, enveloping suffering.

Vedantic Theme: Karma as latent seed (bīja) fructifying into experience (phala); saṃsāra as a field of inevitable maturation.

Application: Reduce pāpa-seeds through ethical living and remedial acts; cultivate cooling virtues (kṣamā, dayā) and devotional remembrance to reorient tendencies.

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: bhayanaka

Secondary Rasa: raudra

Geographic Context

Type: furnace/forge-like pit

Cross References

Related Themes: Garuda Purana Pretakalpa: fire/heat punishments and ‘vipāka’ refrain across naraka descriptions

Characters & Entities

• Pretas
• Yama

FAQs

What is the importance of karma-vipāka (ripening of karma) in the Garuda Purana?

This verse presents suffering as the direct maturation of prior deeds (pūrva-karma-vipāka), emphasizing moral causality rather than random punishment.

How does this verse explain the path of the soul after death?

In the Preta Kanda’s Naraka narrative, certain beings experience furnace-like torments after death, illustrating how the preta undergoes consequences aligned with past actions under Yama’s order.

Practical application of this wisdom today?

Live with restraint and accountability—avoid harmful actions and cultivate dharma—since the text frames consequences as inevitable results of one’s own conduct.