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Library » Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (Bhāgavata Purāṇa) » Canto 5: The Creative Impetus » CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

ŚB 5.26.31

Devanagari

ये त्विह वै पुरुषा: पुरुषमेधेन यजन्ते याश्च स्त्रियो नृपशून्खादन्ति तांश्च ते पशव इव निहता यमसदने यातयन्तो रक्षोगणा: सौनिका इव स्वधितिनावदायासृक्‌पिबन्ति नृत्यन्ति च गायन्ति च हृष्यमाणा यथेह पुरुषादा: ॥ ३१ ॥

Text

ye tv iha vai puruṣāḥ puruṣa-medhena yajante yāś ca striyo nṛ-paśūn khādanti tāṁś ca te paśava iva nihatā yama-sadane yātayanto rakṣo-gaṇāḥ saunikā iva svadhitināvadāyāsṛk pibanti nṛtyanti ca gāyanti ca hṛṣyamāṇā yatheha puruṣādāḥ.

Synonyms

ye — persons who; tu — but; iha — in this life; vai — indeed; puruṣāḥ — men; puruṣa-medhena — by sacrifice of a man; yajante — worship (the goddess Kālī or Bhadra Kālī); yāḥ — those who; ca — and; striyaḥ — women; nṛ-paśūn — the men used as sacrifice; khādanti — eat; tān — them; ca — and; te — they; paśavaḥ iva — like the animals; nihatāḥ — being slain; yama-sadane — in the abode of Yamarāja; yātayantaḥ — punishing; rakṣaḥ-gaṇāḥ — being Rākṣasas; saunikāḥ — the killers; iva — like; svadhitinā — by a sword; avadāya — cutting to pieces; asṛk — the blood; pibanti — drink; nṛtyanti — dance; ca — and; gāyanti — sing; ca — also; hṛṣyamāṇāḥ — being delighted; yathā — just like; iha — in this world; puruṣa-adāḥ — the man-eaters.

Translation

There are men and women in this world who sacrifice human beings to Bhairava or Bhadra Kālī and then eat their victims’ flesh. Those who perform such sacrifices are taken after death to the abode of Yamarāja, where their victims, having taken the form of Rākṣasas, cut them to pieces with sharpened swords. Just as in this world the man-eaters drank their victims’ blood, dancing and singing in jubilation, their victims now enjoy drinking the blood of the sacrificers and celebrating in the same way.