Shloka 81

Atithi-prāpti and the Brāhmaṇa’s Deliberation on Triadic Dharma (अतिथिप्राप्तिः धर्मत्रयविचारश्च)

Devanagari script

प्रदिश्यन्तां च कर्माणि प्राणिनां गतयस्तथा । परिनिष्ठितकालानि आयूंषीह सुरोत्तमा:,'सुरश्रेष्ठटण! तुमलोग प्राणियोंको उनके कर्म, उन कर्मोंके अनुसार प्राप्त होनेवाली गति तथा नियत कालतककी आयु प्रदान करो

Transliteration

pradiśyantāṃ ca karmāṇi prāṇināṃ gatayas tathā | pari-niṣṭhita-kālāni āyūṃṣīha surottamāḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: „O Beste unter den Göttern, weist den Lebewesen ihre Taten (Karma) ordnungsgemäß zu und ebenso die Daseinswege (Gati), die aus diesen Taten folgen; und setzt hier auch ihre Lebensspannen nach dem zugeteilten Zeitmaß fest.“

Word by Word

प्रदिश्यन्ताम्let (them) be assigned/given

चand

कर्माणिactions/deeds

प्राणिनाम्of living beings

गतयःdestinies/paths (of rebirth)

तथाlikewise/also

परिनिष्ठित-कालानिhaving a fixed/settled time (limit)

आयूंषिlifespans

इहhere (in this world)

सुरोत्तमाःO best of gods

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

surottamāḥ (the best of the gods)

prāṇinaḥ (living beings)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse asserts a moral-cosmic linkage: beings’ actions (karma) are to be apportioned with corresponding outcomes (gati), and even lifespan is depicted as regulated within a fixed temporal order—implying an ethically structured universe rather than random fortune.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana narrates an injunction addressed to the foremost gods, asking them to administer the world by assigning creatures their karmic allotments, the resulting destinies, and their time-bounded lifespans—presenting divine administration as the mechanism by which karmic justice operates.