Shloka 19

Dietary Rules & Purification — Dietary Rules, Purification (Śauca), and the Duties of the Householder and Forest-Dweller

Devanagari script

उदक्याश्वाननग्नांश्च सूतिकान्त्यावसायिनः स्पृष्ट्वा स्नायीत शौचार्थं तथैव मृतहारिणः

Transliteration

udakyāśvānanagnāṃśca sūtikāntyāvasāyinaḥ spṛṣṭvā snāyīta śaucārthaṃ tathaiva mṛtahāriṇaḥ

Translation

Wer eine menstruierende Frau, ein Pferd, einen Hund, einen Nackten, eine Gebärende oder einen Ausgestoßenen (niedriger Berufstand) berührt hat, soll zur Reinheit baden; ebenso nach Berührung dessen, der einen Toten trägt.

Word by Word

• उदक्या: menstruating women
• उदक्या: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: उदक्या (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (कर्म), बहुवचन; accusative plural feminine

• अश्वान्: horses
• अश्वान्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अश्व (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचन; accusative plural masculine

• अनग्नान्: those without sacred fire
• अनग्नान्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अनग्न (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचन; accusative plural masculine; विशेषण—(अग्निहीन)

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक-निपात; conjunction

• सूतिका: a woman in childbirth / puerperal woman
• सूतिका: Sahakari/Karana (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सूतिका (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया (करण), एकवचन; instrumental singular feminine

• अन्त्या: an outcaste/low-born (woman)
• अन्त्या: Sahakari/Karana (करण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अन्त्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन; instrumental singular feminine; विशेषण—(अन्त्यजाति/नीच)

• अवसायिनः: those who deal with/handle (them)
• अवसायिनः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अवसायिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (कर्ता), बहुवचन; nominative plural masculine

• स्पृष्ट्वा: having touched
• स्पृष्ट्वा: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्पृश् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (अव्ययकृदन्त), पूर्वकाल; absolutive/gerund ‘having touched’

• स्नायीत: should bathe
• स्नायीत: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्ना (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; should bathe

• शौचार्थम्: for purification
• शौचार्थम्: Prayojana (प्रयोजन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शौच + अर्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; उद्देश्य/प्रयोजनार्थे—‘for the sake of purity’

• तथा: likewise
• तथा: Kriya-vishesana (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय—प्रकारवाचक; adverb ‘thus/in the same way’

• एव: indeed/just
• एव: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव (अव्यय)
• Form: अवधारण-निपात; emphatic particle

• मृतहारिणः: those who carry the dead
• मृतहारिणः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मृत + हारिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; nominative plural masculine; ‘dead-body carrier’

Speakers

• Pulastya → Nārada (general dharma instruction; verse-level speaker not explicit here)

Key Themes

• Vrata/Rituals
• Śauca (purity rules)
• Social-religious norms in Purāṇic dharma sections

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The verse encodes a ritual hygiene system: contact with certain liminal states (blood, birth, death) triggers bathing as a reintegration into ritual order.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana?

Not pañcalakṣaṇa narrative content; it is dharma-vidhi embedded in the Purāṇa, typical of many Purāṇas that serve as practical religious manuals.

What is the symbolic significance?

Birth and death are powerful thresholds; bathing symbolizes crossing back from liminality to sacred eligibility (adhikāra) for worship, japa, and domestic rites.