Shloka 25

Yama-mārga (Adhvan) and the Courts of Yama: Vaivasvatī and Chitragupta

Devanagari script

दशोच्छ्रितं महादिव्यं लोहप्राकारवोष्टितम् / प्रतोलीशतसंचारं पतताकाशतशोभितम्

Transliteration

daśocchritaṃ mahādivyaṃ lohaprākāravoṣṭitam / pratolīśatasaṃcāraṃ patatākāśataśobhitam

Translation

Zehn Yojanas hoch, höchst wundersam und himmlisch, ist es von eisernen Wehrmauern umschlossen; durch Hunderte von Toren führt der Zugang, und Hunderte flatternder Banner schmücken es.

Word by Word

• दशोच्छ्रितम्: raised to ten (units) in height
• दशोच्छ्रितम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दश (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक) + उच्छ्रित (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; √श्रि/श्रय्? उच्छ्रि 'to rise' as participial usage)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; समासः—दश-उच्छ्रितम् (दश-प्रमाणेन उच्छ्रितम्) तत्पुरुष; विशेषणम् (गृहम्)

• महादिव्यम्: great and divine
• महादिव्यम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महा (प्रातिपदिक) + दिव्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; समासः—महाच तत् दिव्यं च (महादिव्यम्) कर्मधारय; विशेषणम्

• लोहप्राकारवेष्टितम्: enclosed by iron ramparts
• लोहप्राकारवेष्टितम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: लोह (प्रातिपदिक) + प्राकार (प्रातिपदिक) + वेष्टित (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; √वेष्ट्)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; भूतकृदन्त (क्त); समासः—लोह-प्राकारैः वेष्टितम् (करण-तत्पुरुष)

• प्रतोलीशतसंचारम्: having passageways of a hundred gateways
• प्रतोलीशतसंचारम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्रतोली (प्रातिपदिक) + शत (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक) + संचार (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; समासः—प्रतोलीनां शतं (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष) + संचारः (तत्पुरुष: 'having movement/ways of'); विशेषणम्

• पतताकाशतशोभितम्: adorned with hundreds of banners
• पतताकाशतशोभितम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पताका (प्रातिपदिक) + शत (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक) + शोभित (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; √शुभ्/शोभ्)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; भूतकृदन्त (क्त); समासः—पताकानां शतैः शोभितम् (करण-तत्पुरुष)

Speaker

Lord Vishnu (narrating to Garuda/Vinata-putra)

Pretakalpa Layer

Afterlife Stage: Yamaloka Journey

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Karmic administration is comprehensive (many gates) and firm (iron walls): actions inevitably enter the system of results.

Vedantic Theme: Anādi karma and its binding force; the apparent ‘fortress’ of saṃsāra maintained by causal law until knowledge/devotion liberates.

Application: Reduce harmful actions and cultivate restraint; treat every ‘gate’ (sense-door, opportunity) as ethically consequential.

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: adbhuta

Secondary Rasa: bhayanaka

Geographic Context

Type: fortified palace/administrative citadel

Cross References

Related Themes: Garuda Purana Pretakalpa: architectural descriptions of Yamaloka institutions; subsequent verses on Chitragupta’s function and judgment procedures

Characters & Entities

• Yama

FAQs

What is the importance of describing Yama’s city in the Garuda Purana?

This verse uses vivid, concrete imagery—iron ramparts, many gates, and banners—to convey the ordered, formidable authority of Yama’s realm where beings are brought for judgment after death.

How does this verse explain the path of the soul after death?

By portraying Yama’s city as vast and structured with many gateways, the text implies an organized post-death administration—souls are led through defined entrances and routes toward Yama’s court according to their karmic condition.

Practical application of this wisdom today?

Treat actions as consequential and accountable: live with ethical restraint (dharma), remembering that the tradition frames death as entry into an ordered moral universe where deeds are reviewed.