Shloka 26

Āyuḥ-kṣaya by Vikarma; Impermanence of the Body; Aśauca and Child Śrāddha Procedures; Dāna as Remedy

Devanagari script

अण्डजादिषु भूतेषु यत्रयत्र प्रसर्पति / आधयो व्याधयः क्लेशा जरारूपविपर्ययः

Transliteration

aṇḍajādiṣu bhūteṣu yatrayatra prasarpati / ādhayo vyādhayaḥ kleśā jarārūpaviparyayaḥ

Translation

في الكائنات المولودة بطرائق شتّى—كالمولودة من البيض وغيرها—حيثما تمتدّ الحياة المتجسّدة، تمتدّ معها آفاتُ النفس، وأمراضُ الجسد، والآلامُ، وتشوهاتُ الهيئة التي تجلبها الشيخوخة.

Word by Word

• अण्डजादिषु: among egg-born etc. (species)
• अण्डजादिषु: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अण्डज-आदि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/अधिकरण), बहुवचन; ‘अण्डजादि’ इति समासः तत्पुरुषः (अण्डजः आदिः यस्य/ये) + ‘-षु’

• भूतेषु: in beings
• भूतेषु: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भूत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/अधिकरण), बहुवचन

• यत्र: where
• यत्र: Sambandha (Relative marker/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक-अव्यय (relative adverb ‘where’)

• यत्र: wherever
• यत्र: Sambandha (Relative marker/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: पुनरुक्ति (emphatic repetition)

• प्रसर्पति: creeps/spreads
• प्रसर्पति: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र-√सृप् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; उपसर्गः प्र-

• आधयः: mental afflictions/anxieties
• आधयः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: आधि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/कर्ता), बहुवचन

• व्याधयः: diseases
• व्याधयः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: व्याधि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/कर्ता), बहुवचन

• क्लेशाः: sufferings
• क्लेशाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्लेश (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/कर्ता), बहुवचन

• जरारूपविपर्ययः: the alteration of form due to aging
• जरारूपविपर्ययः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जरा-रूप-विपर्यय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/कर्ता), एकवचन; समासः तत्पुरुषः (जरायाः रूपस्य विपर्ययः)

Speaker

Lord Vishnu (speaking to Garuda/Vinata-putra)

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Wherever embodiment occurs—across all birth-types—there inevitably arise mental afflictions, disease, suffering, and senescent distortion; duḥkha is structural to saṃsāra.

Vedantic Theme: Duḥkha-doṣa-anudarśana (seeing the defect in worldly existence) leading to vairāgya; identification with body-mind as the root of distress.

Application: Use the universality of illness/aging as a daily contemplation to loosen attachment to bodily identity and cultivate steadiness in practice.

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: karuna

Secondary Rasa: bibhatsa

Geographic Context

Type: all embodied habitats

Cross References

Related Themes: Garuda Purana: catalogues of karmic destinies and the inevitability of decay in embodied life (contextual parallels in mokṣa/dharma sections)

Characters & Entities

• Garuda
• Embodied beings (bhutas)

FAQs

What is the importance of describing disease, anxiety, and old age in the Garuda Purana?

This verse highlights that suffering is inherent to embodied existence across all births, supporting the Purana’s broader aim of encouraging detachment, dharma, and preparation for death and the afterlife.

How does this verse explain the path of the soul in the Garuda Purana narrative?

By stressing the universality of affliction in embodied life, it frames why the soul seeks release and why the text moves toward teachings on karma, post-death states, and rites that aid the departed.

Practical application of this wisdom today?

Recognize aging and illness as natural features of samsara, reduce harmful attachments, and prioritize dharmic living—ethical conduct, self-discipline, and spiritual practice—so life and death are faced with clarity.