Shloka 27
अध्याय २९७ — श्रेयः, धृति, दान-नियमाः
Welfare, Steadfastness, and Norms of Giving
ऊर्ध्व॑ भित्त्वा प्रतिष्ठन्ते प्राणा: पुण्यवतां नूप । मध्यतो मध्यपुण्यानामधो दुष्कृतकर्मणाम्
ūrdhvaṁ bhittvā pratiṣṭhante prāṇāḥ puṇyavatāṁ nṛpa | madhyato madhya-puṇyānām adho duṣkṛta-karmaṇām rājān ||
پراشر نے کہا—اے راجن! حقیقی نیکوکاروں کے پران اوپر کی سمت برہمرندھر کو چیر کر نکلتے ہیں؛ درمیانے درجے کی نیکی والوں کے پران درمیان کے راستوں (جیسے منہ اور آنکھیں) سے نکلتے ہیں؛ اور بدکرداروں کے پران نیچے کے سوراخوں سے نیچے کی طرف جاتے ہیں۔
पराशर उवाच
Educational Q&A
A person’s moral and spiritual quality (puṇya vs. duṣkṛta) is reflected at death in the ‘path’ by which prāṇa departs: upward through the brahma-randhra for the highly meritorious, through middle openings for middling merit, and downward for those dominated by sinful action—linking ethical conduct with one’s final transition.
Parāśara instructs a king about the signs and implications of death, describing three modes of prāṇa’s departure corresponding to three grades of karma, thereby teaching the king an ethical-yogic view of how life’s deeds shape the moment of dying.