ये वै लोकाश् चानृतानां ये चैव ब्रह्मघातिनाम् ॥
पानपस्य च ये लोका गुरुदाररतस्य च ॥
ब्रह्मस्वहारिणश् चैव राजपिण्डापहारिणः ॥
शरणागतं च त्यजतो याचमानं तथा घ्नतः ॥
अगारदाहिनां ये च ये च गां निघ्नताम् अपि ॥
अपचारिणां च ये लोका ये च ब्रह्मद्विषाम् अपि ॥
जायां च ऋतुकाले वै ये मोहाद् अभिगच्छताम् ॥
श्राद्धसंगतिकानां च ये चाप्य् आत्मापहारिणाम् ॥
न्यासापहारिणां ये च श्रुतं नाशयतां च ये ॥
कोपेन युध्यमानानां ये च नीचानुसारिणाम् ॥
नास्तिकानां च ये लोका ये ऽग्निहोरापितृत्यजाम् ॥
तान् आप्नुयामहे लोकान् ये च पापकृताम् अपि ॥
ye vai lokāś cānṛtānāṃ ye caiva brahmaghātinām ||
pānapasya ca ye lokā gurudāraratasya ca ||
brahmasvahāriṇaś caiva rājapiṇḍāpahāriṇaḥ ||
śaraṇāgataṃ ca tyajato yācamānaṃ tathā ghnataḥ ||
agāradāhināṃ ye ca ye ca gāṃ nighnatām api ||
apacāriṇāṃ ca ye lokā ye ca brahmadviṣām api ||
jāyāṃ ca ṛtukāle vai ye mohād abhigacchatām ||
śrāddhasaṃgatikānāṃ ca ye cāpy ātmāpahāriṇām ||
nyāsāpahāriṇāṃ ye ca śrutaṃ nāśayatāṃ ca ye ||
kopena yudhyamānānāṃ ye ca nīcānusāriṇām ||
nāstikānāṃ ca ye lokā ye 'gnihorāpitṛtyajām ||
tān āpnuyāmahe lokān ye ca pāpakṛtām api ||
[They declared:] 'Those posthumous worlds that belong to liars, and those that belong to brahmin-slayers, the worlds of the drunkard and of one who has lain with the wife of his teacher; the worlds of the thief of brahmin wealth and the plunderer of the king's grant; of one who betrays a refugee seeking protection and of one who kills a suppliant pleading for mercy; the worlds of house-burners and of cattle-slayers, of the wicked and of brahmin-haters; of those who through folly do not unite with their own wife in her appointed season, and of those who defile funeral gatherings, and of those who betray their own true nature; of embezzlers of what was entrusted to them and of those who squandered acquired knowledge; of those who fight from mere fury and of those who follow the base; the worlds of atheists and of those who have cast aside the sacred fire, the rites, and their duty to the ancestors — those worlds may we attain, and those that belong to evildoers as well —'
e9dc0cd84a7b · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:00:04 PM UTC
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This long catalogue of sins, placed in the mouth of a vow, is in effect dharma taught in reverse: to frighten themselves away from the disgrace of retreat, the warriors enumerate everything reckoned most grievous — falsehood, the killing of the defenseless, the betrayal of a refuge, neglect of the sacred. The very list of curses thus reveals what they held sacred in their hearts. But the tragedy is that they have placed this very strictness with themselves in the service of untruth. The verse teaches that even one who sins against dharma often knows its demands perfectly well; that the fear of disgrace can be strong even where there is no love of truth; and that the greatest zeal for honor, given over to an unrighteous cause, does not save it from the fact that its aim is lawless.