Adhyaya 14 — The Messenger of Yama Explains Karmic Retribution and the Causes of Naraka Torments
गोबाह्मणाग्नयः स्पृष्टा यैरुच्छिष्टैर्नरेश्वर ।
तेषामेतेऽग्निकुम्भेषु लेलिह्यन्त्याहिताः कराः ॥
gobāhmaṇāgnayaḥ spṛṣṭā yairucchiṣṭairnareśvara / teṣāmete 'gnikumbheṣu lelihyantyāhitāḥ karāḥ
ข้าแต่พระราชา ผู้ใดด้วยความมลทินจากอุจฉิษฏะ (เศษอาหารอันไม่บริสุทธิ์) ไปแตะต้องโค พราหมณ์ และไฟศักดิ์สิทธิ์—มือของผู้นั้นถูกวางลงในภาชนะไฟ และถูกเปลวไฟเลียอยู่ที่นั่นไม่ขาดสาย
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Purity rules are not mere externalism here: they encode reverence and restraint. Careless defilement of sacred recipients (cow, Brāhmaṇa, fire) is treated as sacrilege, with punishment directed at the offending organ—hands.
Dharma/karmaphala instruction; not pañcalakṣaṇa.
Hands symbolize agency (kartṛtva). Fire symbolizes moral law and transformation. The image teaches that misused agency is ‘processed’ by the very principle it offended—Agni as purifier becomes Agni as tormentor.