SB 5.26.32 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

ये त्विह वा अनागसोऽरण्ये ग्रामे वा वैश्रम्भकैरुपसृतानुपविश्रम्भय्य जिजीविषून् शूलसूत्रादिषूपप्रोतान्क्रीडनकतया यातयन्ति तेऽपि च प्रेत्य यमयातनासु शूलादिषु प्रोतात्मान: क्षुत्तृड्भ्यां चाभिहता: कङ्कवटादिभिश्चेतस्ततस्तिग्मतुण्डैराहन्यमाना आत्मशमलं स्मरन्ति ॥ ३२ ॥

Verse text

ye tv iha vā anāgaso ’raṇye grāme vā vaiśrambhakair upasṛtān upaviśrambhayya jijīviṣūn śūla-sūtrādiṣūpaprotān krīḍanakatayā yātayanti te ’pi ca pretya yama-yātanāsu śūlādiṣu protātmānaḥ kṣut-tṛḍbhyāṁ cābhihatāḥ kaṅka-vaṭādibhiś cetas tatas tigma-tuṇḍair āhanyamānā ātma-śamalaṁ smaranti.

Synonyms

ye — persons who ; tu — but ; iha — in this life ; vā — or ; anāgasaḥ — who are faultless ; araṇye — in the forest ; grāme — in the village ; vā — or ; vaiśrambhakaiḥ — by means of good faith ; upasṛtān — brought near ; upaviśrambhayya — inspiring with confidence ; jijīviṣūn — who want to be protected ; śūla — sūtra — ādiṣu — on a lance, thread, and so on ; upaprotān — fixed ; krīḍanakatayā — like a plaything ; yātayanti — cause pain ; te — those persons ; api — certainly ; ca — and ; pretya — after dying ; yama — yātanāsu — the persecutions of Yamarāja ; śūla — ādiṣu — on lances and so on ; prota — ātmānaḥ — whose bodies are fixed ; kṣut — tṛḍbhyām — by hunger and thirst ; ca — also ; abhihatāḥ — overwhelmed ; kaṅka — vaṭa — ādibhiḥ — by birds such as herons and vultures ; ca — and ; itaḥ tataḥ — here and there ; tigma — tuṇḍaiḥ — having pointed beaks ; āhanyamānāḥ — being tortured ; ātma — śamalam — own sinful activities ; smaranti — they remember .

Translation

In this life some people give shelter to animals and birds that come to them for protection in the village or forest, and after making them believe that they will be protected, such people pierce them with lances or threads and play with them like toys, giving them great pain. After death such people are brought by the assistants of Yamarāja to the hell known as Śūlaprota, where their bodies are pierced with sharp, needlelike lances. They suffer from hunger and thirst, and sharp-beaked birds such as vultures and herons come at them from all sides to tear at their bodies. Tortured and suffering, they can then remember the sinful activities they committed in the past.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Those who, by acting in a trusting manner, inspire the trust of faultless forest or village animals who, desiring protection, approach them, and who then torture those animals by piercing them with lances and threads as if they were dolls, after dying have their bodies pierced by lances in a hell called Śūlaprota. They are overwhelmed by hunger and thirst, and, attacked by the sharp beaks of herons and vultures, then remember their sinful acts. Vaiśrambhakair means “by faith-inspiring methods.”