Vamana Purana — Harihara Revelation, Shloka 2
Harihara Revelation and the Kurukshetra Tirtha Cycle: Sthanu in Vishnu and the Sanctification of Saptasarasvata
फलस्तेयं महापापं फलहीनं तथाटनम् छेदनं वृक्षजातीनां द्वितीयं नरकं स्मृतम्
phalasteyaṃ mahāpāpaṃ phalahīnaṃ tathāṭanam chedanaṃ vṛkṣajātīnāṃ dvitīyaṃ narakaṃ smṛtam
پھل چرانا بڑا گناہ ہے؛ اسی طرح بےثمر بھٹکنا (بےحاصل/غیر پیداواری زندگی) اور درختوں کی اقسام کو کاٹنا—یہ ‘دوسرا نرک’ سمجھا گیا ہے۔
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FAQs
In agrarian dharma, fruit/produce is livelihood and often part of offerings, hospitality, and subsistence. Theft disrupts social trust and harms the cultivator’s sustenance; hence it is elevated beyond minor stealing.
Literally it is ‘wandering without fruit/yield.’ It can be read as censuring a life of aimless roaming that produces no rightful benefit (dharma/artha) or as taking without giving—contrasted with a householder’s productive, sustaining role.
Purāṇic dharma often treats trees as life-supporting beings tied to rain, fertility, and sacred space (groves near tīrthas/temples). Indiscriminate felling is therefore both ecological violence and sacrilege, warranting severe karmic consequence.