Shloka 79

Adhyaya 10 — Jaimini’s Questions on Birth, Death, Karma, and the Embodied Journey

Sanskrit

दण्डासक्तं महाबाहुं पाशहस्तं सुभैरवम् ।

तन्निर्दिष्टां ततो याति गतिं जन्तुः शुभाशुभाम् ॥

Transliteration

daṇḍāsaktaṃ mahābāhuṃ pāśahastaṃ subhairavam /

tannirdiṣṭāṃ tato yāti gatiṃ jantuḥ śubhāśubhām

Translation

فلمّا رأى ذلك الجبارَ شديدَ الهيبة—حاملَ العصا وممسكَ الحبلَ (اللاسو)—مضى الكائنُ إلى المصير الذي عيّنه له، سواءٌ كان ميمونًا أم مشؤومًا.

Word by Word

• दण्डासक्तम्: holding a staff
• दण्डासक्तम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दण्ड + आसक्त (सञ्ज्/सज्-धातु; कृदन्त)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular; ‘attached to/holding a staff’

• महाबाहुम्: mighty-armed
• महाबाहुम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महा + बाहु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular; ‘great-armed’

• पाशहस्तम्: with a noose in hand
• पाशहस्तम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पाश + हस्त (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular; ‘having a noose in hand’

• सुभैरवम्: very terrifying
• सुभैरवम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सु + भैरव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular; ‘very dreadful’

• तत्: that
• तत्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular; pronoun used with ‘निर्दिष्टाम्’ → ‘that (path/direction)’

• निर्दिष्टाम्: indicated
• निर्दिष्टाम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नि + दिश् (धातु)
• Form: Past passive participle (क्त), Feminine, Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular; agrees with ‘गतिम्’ understood; ‘indicated/appointed’

• ततः: then
• ततः: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः (अव्यय)
• Form: Avyaya, adverb; ‘thereupon/from there’

• याति: goes
• याति: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: या (धातु)
• Form: Present (लट्), Parasmaipada, 3rd Person, Singular

• गतिम्: course/destination
• गतिम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular

• जन्तुः: the creature (soul)
• जन्तुः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जन्तु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular

• शुभाशुभाम्: auspicious or inauspicious
• शुभाशुभाम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शुभ + अशुभ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular; dvandva used adjectivally: ‘good-and-bad’ qualifying ‘गतिम्’

Speakers

• Frame-dialogue context not provided in input

Verse Rasa

{ "primaryRasa": "bhayanaka", "secondaryRasa": "shanta", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

Primary Deities

• Yama

Key Themes

• Karmic judgment
• Gati (destiny)
• Moral recompense

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Destiny after death is portrayed as adjudicated according to deeds: śubha and aśubha karmas mature into corresponding paths, reinforcing ethical responsibility.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

Dharma/karma-fruit teaching; not a pañcalakṣaṇa unit.

What is the esoteric significance?

The staff and noose symbolize constraint and consequence: the jīva is ‘bound’ by its own actions and ‘directed’ by the impersonal order that Yama represents.