Vamana Purana — Karmic Causes of Narakas, Shloka 43
Karmic Causes of Narakas and the Irremediability of Ingratitude (Kṛtaghna-doṣa)
ये त्वेते नरका रौद्रा रौरवाद्यास्तवोदिताः ते सर्वे क्रमशः प्रोक्ताः कृतघ्ने लोकनिन्दिते
ye tvete narakā raudrā rauravādyāstavoditāḥ te sarve kramaśaḥ proktāḥ kṛtaghne lokanindite
“Those dreadful hells—Raudra, Raurava, and the others—spoken by you: all of them have been declared in due order for the ungrateful person and for one condemned by the world (for blameworthy conduct).”
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FAQs
Gratitude (kṛtajñatā) is treated as a core dhārmic virtue; kṛtaghna—one who destroys/denies received good—becomes socially and cosmically culpable. The verse ties social moral judgment (lokanindā) to post-mortem consequence (naraka), expressing the Purāṇic ethic that inner vice manifests as both worldly disgrace and karmic retribution.
Primarily under Dharma/Karma instruction within the broader Purāṇic didactic material; it aligns most closely with ancillary dharma-upadeśa rather than the five strict markers, but can be cataloged near Pratisarga/Manvantara-style moral-cosmological descriptions where destinies (including hells) are explained.
“Hells in order” symbolizes moral causality as structured law (ṛta/dharma): wrongdoing is not random in outcome. The pairing of kṛtaghna and lokanindita indicates that betrayal of beneficence fractures both the sacred social fabric and the cosmic order, hence the ‘fierce’ realms (raudra/raurava) mirror the inner cruelty of ingratitude.