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

দণ্ডধাৰী আৰু পাশহস্ত সেই মহাবাহু, মহাভয়ংকৰক দেখি সেই জীৱে তেওঁৰ দ্বাৰা নিৰ্ধাৰিত গতি লাভ কৰে—সেই গতি শুভ হওক বা অশুভ।

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.