Shloka 21

नरक-निर्णयः, पाप-कर्म-फल-व्यवस्था, प्रायश्चित्त-क्रमः, तथा हरि-स्मरण-परमत्वम्

Devanagari script

मार्जारकुक्कुटच्छागश्ववराहविहंगमान् पोषयन् नरकं याति तम् एव द्विजसत्तम

Transliteration

mārjārakukkuṭacchāgaśvavarāhavihaṃgamān poṣayan narakaṃ yāti tam eva dvijasattama

Translation

ดูก่อนทวิชาติผู้ประเสริฐ ผู้ที่เลี้ยงแมว ไก่ แพะ สุนัข สุกร และนก ย่อมตกลงสู่นรกขุมนั้นเช่นกัน

Word by Word

• मार्जारकुक्कुटच्छागश्ववराहविहंगमान्: cats, cocks, goats, horses, boars, and birds
• मार्जारकुक्कुटच्छागश्ववराहविहंगमान्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मार्जार + कुक्कुट + छाग + अश्व + वराह + विहंगम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचन; समासः—द्वन्द्व (मार्जारादयः)

• पोषयन्: nourishing; keeping (rearing)
• पोषयन्: Karta (Agent/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: पुष् (धातु)
• Form: वर्तमानकृदन्त (Present active participle/शतृ), परस्मैपदी; पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; नरः इति कर्तरि विशेषण

• नरकम्: hell
• नरकम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नरक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• याति: goes
• याति: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: या (धातु)
• Form: लट्, परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन

• तम्: that
• तम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• एव: indeed; just
• एव: Sambandha (Emphasis/अवधारण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव (अव्यय)
• Form: अवधारण-अव्यय (particle)

• द्विजसत्तम: O best of the twice-born
• द्विजसत्तम: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: द्विज + सत्तम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुष (द्विजानां सत्तमः)

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (in instruction to Maitreya)

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Parasara

Topic: Sins connected with rearing animals for harm/sport/slaughter and their naraka results

Teaching: Ethical

Quality: authoritative

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Sustaining animals with the intention of harm—whether for fighting, hunting, or slaughter—constitutes complicity in violence and leads to the same naraka consequence.

Vedantic Theme: Dharma

Application: Practice compassionate stewardship of animals; avoid entertainment or profit models built on animal suffering; support non-harmful livelihoods.

Vishishtadvaita: All beings are modes within the Lord’s embodied cosmos; cruelty toward them violates dharmic service and invites karmic reaction within His just order.

FAQs

What is the significance of Kali-yuga livelihoods in the Vishnu Purana?

This verse treats certain animal-keeping—when tied to harm, exploitation, or slaughter—as a Kali-yuga marker that produces severe karmic results, including descent to naraka.

How does Sage Parāśara explain karmic consequence in this passage?

He frames karma as immediate moral causality: sustaining practices that enable violence becomes participation in that violence, and therefore ripens as suffering in hellish states.

What is the theological importance of Lord Vishnu here?

Even without naming Vishnu directly, the verse presumes a Vishnu-governed moral cosmos where dharma and adharma are objectively real and sovereignly enforced through karmic law.