Listen now to the tale of the soul’s journey after death, as revealed in the sacred verses. The consequences of one’s actions are subtle and exact, and each deed shapes the path ahead. Consider first the woman who, deluded, partakes of her husband’s funeral offering but neglects to perform the prescribed rites. After death, she is reborn as a monkey. Likewise, the one who steals a deposit, when released from the torments of hell, emerges as a worm; and the envious, after their suffering, become demons. A man who betrays trust is born in the womb of a fish. If one steals grains—be it barley, sesame, black gram, horse gram, mustard, chickpeas, peas, rice, green gram, wheat, lentils, or any other crop—out of delusion, he is reborn as an insentient creature, specifically as a large-mouthed, tawny mouse. Coveting another’s wife leads to rebirth as a fierce wolf. If a man, wicked in heart, violates his brother’s wife, he descends through forms such as a dog, jackal, crane, vulture, snake, and heron. Should he violate the wife of a friend, teacher, or king, after suffering in hell, he becomes a male cuckoo. Driven by lust to such acts, he is reborn as a boar. One who disrupts sacred sacrifices, gifts, or marriages falls to the state of a worm. If a man gives away a girl in marriage and then takes her back, he too is reborn as a worm. Whoever eats food without first offering it to the gods, ancestors, or Brahmins, even after release from hell, is born as a crow. Disrespect towards one’s eldest brother or a brother equal to one’s father leads to rebirth as a curlew. And a Shudra who harms a Brahmin is born among worms; producing offspring with her, he becomes a worm inside wood, then a boar, a worm, a waterfowl, or a Chandala. The ungrateful and ignorant, after leaving hell, are born as worms, insects, moths, or scorpions. One who kills a fish, crow, or tortoise becomes an outcaste; if a man kills another without weapons, he is reborn as a donkey. The killer of women or children becomes a worm, while one who steals food is born as a fly. There are distinctions regarding food theft as well. One who steals cooked rice becomes a cat after hell. Stealing food mixed with sesame cake leads to rebirth as a mouse; stealing ghee, as a mongoose; and stealing waterfowl meat, as a crow. A crow who steals fish or meat, an osprey who steals meat from the road, and a sandpiper who steals salt or curd, all are reborn as worms. Stealing milk leads to life as a crane; stealing oil, as an oil-drinker. The one who steals honey is reborn as a biting insect; stealing cakes brings rebirth as an ant; stealing split pulses, as a house lizard. Should one steal liquor, he becomes a partridge; if iron, a crow. Stealing bronze leads to rebirth as a green bird; stealing a silver vessel, as a pigeon; but stealing a golden vessel brings one among worms. The theft of a leaf-cup leads to life as a woodpecker, and a weaver who steals silk cloth is born again as a weaver. Stealing fine linen brings rebirth as a heron; muslin, as a parrot; goat’s wool or linen, as flax. Stealing cotton cloth makes one a curlew; bark cloth, a crane; colored garments, a peacock or a vegetable leaf. To steal a living garment is to become a jivajivaka bird; a red garment, a mongoose; fragrant clothes, a hare. The one who steals fruit is reborn as a eunuch; stealing wood, as a wood-boring insect; stealing flowers brings poverty; and stealing vehicles results in lameness. If one steals vegetables, he becomes a green bird; if water, a cātaka bird. But the theft of land brings the soul through dreadful hells like Raurava, and then into fearful forms. Gradually, such a soul passes through the forms of grass, bush, creeper, vine, bark, and saline trees. When his sin is much reduced, he returns as a human. Yet even then, he may be born as a worm, insect, moth, bird, aquatic animal, or beast, then as a cow, and finally as a despised outcaste—such as a Caṇḍāla or Pukkasa. He suffers afflictions: crippled, blind, deaf, leprous, tormented by consumption, and plagued by diseases of the mouth, eyes, and anus. He may become epileptic and be born as a Śūdra. Such is the observed sequence for those who steal cows or gold. Those who steal knowledge, perpetrate grave frauds, take another’s wife or give her to another are also subject to these fates. Deluded, they become eunuchs, cast out from torments, and the man who performs sacrifice with unkindled fire shares their suffering. He is born with indigestion, disease, and suffering, afflicted by poor digestion. Slander, ingratitude, and harming another’s vital points follow. Harshness, cruelty, adultery, theft, impurity, and reviling the gods are included among these faults. Deceitfully taking gold, killing men out of miserliness, and repeated forbidden acts are also noted. One should recognize these as the marks of those released from hell. Yet, there is a remedy: compassion towards all beings, truthfulness, and preparation for the next world. Truthful speech, words that benefit others, reverence for the Vedas, honoring teachers, gods, sages, and accomplished seers, and association with the virtuous—these are declared as the path of righteousness. The wise understand that noble conduct, friendship, and all actions that are truly righteous are the marks of virtue.