Vamana Purana — Karmic Causes of Narakas, Shloka 37

Karmic Causes of Narakas and the Irremediability of Ingratitude (Kṛtaghna-doṣa)

Devanagari script

पृष्ठमांसाशिनो मूढास्तथैवोत्कोचजीविनः क्षिप्यन्ते वृकभक्षे ते नरके रजनीचर

Transliteration

pṛṣṭhamāṃsāśino mūḍhāstathaivotkocajīvinaḥ kṣipyante vṛkabhakṣe te narake rajanīcara

Translation

噫，夜行者啊：愚昧而食背肉者，及以受贿为生者，同被投掷于名为 Vṛkabhakṣa 的地狱。

Word by Word

• pṛṣṭha-māṃsa-āśinaḥ: eaters of back-flesh
• pṛṣṭha-māṃsa-āśinaḥ: Karta (कर्ता/subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pṛṣṭha (प्रातिपदिक) + māṃsa (प्रातिपदिक) + āśin (प्रातिपदिक; from √aś ‘to eat’)
• Form: Tatpuruṣa (object-determinative), Masculine, Nominative plural

• mūḍhāḥ: the deluded/fools
• mūḍhāḥ: Karta (कर्ता/subject, appositional)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mūḍha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative plural

• tathā: thus, likewise
• tathā: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tathā (अव्यय)
• Form: Avyaya, adverb (क्रियाविशेषण)

• eva: indeed, just
• eva: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: Avyaya, emphatic particle (निश्चयार्थक/अवधारण)

• utkoca-jīvinaḥ: those who live by bribes
• utkoca-jīvinaḥ: Karta (कर्ता/subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: utkoca (प्रातिपदिक) + jīvin (प्रातिपदिक; from √jīv)
• Form: Tatpuruṣa, Masculine, Nominative plural

• kṣipyante: are thrown, are cast
• kṣipyante: Kriyā (क्रिया/predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √kṣip (क्षिप् धातु)
• Form: Present tense/laṭ, 3rd person plural (बहुवचन), Ātmanepada (आत्मनेपद), passive sense (कर्मणि प्रयोग)

• vṛka-bhakṣe: in the ‘wolf-devouring’ (hell/region)
• vṛka-bhakṣe: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण/location)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vṛka (प्रातिपदिक) + bhakṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Tatpuruṣa; Neuter, Locative (सप्तमी) singular

• te: they
• te: Karta (कर्ता/subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Pronoun, Masculine, Nominative plural

• narake: in hell
• narake: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण/location)
• Type: Noun
• Root: naraka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Locative singular

• rajanī-cara: O night-wanderer (address)
• rajanī-cara: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन/vocative)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rajanī (प्रातिपदिक) + cara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Tatpuruṣa (rajanīyām caraḥ), Vocative (सम्बोधन) singular, Masculine

Speakers

• Not explicit in the provided excerpt (often framed as Pulastya instructing Nārada in the Vāmana Purāṇa)

Key Themes

• Dharma
• Karma-phala
• Naraka (hells)
• Social ethics (corruption/bribery)
• Ahimsa/violence critique

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

{ "primaryRasa": "bhayanaka", "secondaryRasa": "raudra", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The verse condemns two forms of adharma: (1) cruel, dehumanizing violence symbolized by eating flesh in an especially brutal manner, and (2) institutional corruption—living off bribes. Both are treated as grave moral failures that lead to severe post-mortem consequences, reinforcing that livelihood (ājīvikā) must be dhārmic.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana?

This passage aligns most closely with Dharma/Karma-phala instruction rather than the five classic purāṇic marks; it is not sarga/pratisarga/vaṃśa/vaṃśānucarita/manvantara narration. If forced into a purāṇic taxonomy, it functions as didactic material attached to broader narrative frames (often embedded within manvantara/vaṃśānucarita contexts, but here primarily ethical-penal teaching).

What is the symbolic significance?

‘Vṛkabhakṣa’ (wolf-devouring/devoured-by-wolves) symbolizes retributive reversal: those who prey upon others (through violence or corrupt extraction) become prey. The imagery encodes a moral inversion—harm returned in kind.