Shloka 10
Rajayakshma Nidana: Causes, Pathogenesis, Symptoms, and Prognosis
पाण्योरुवक्षः पादास्यकुक्ष्यक्ष्णोरतिशुक्लता / बाह्वोः प्रतोदो जिह्वायाः काये बैभत्स्यदर्शनम्
pāṇyoruvakṣaḥ pādāsyakukṣyakṣṇoratiśuklatā / bāhvoḥ pratodo jihvāyāḥ kāye baibhatsyadarśanam
Excessive pallor appears in the hands, thighs and chest, and likewise in the feet, mouth, belly, and eyes. There is stabbing pain in the arms, affliction of the tongue, and the body takes on a repulsive, grotesque appearance.
Lord Vishnu (in instruction to Garuda/Vainateya)
Concept: The body manifests warning-signs as karmic fruition and as a prompt for timely rectification.
Vedantic Theme: Deha-anityatva (impermanence of the body) and karma-vipaka (ripening of actions) as impetus toward dharma and remembrance of Hari.
Application: Treat such signs as a call to ethical correction, confession/prāyaścitta, and intensified japa/charity while health remains.
Primary Rasa: bibhatsa
Secondary Rasa: bhayanaka
Related Themes: Garuda Purana Pretakalpa: descriptions of pre-death omens (ariṣṭa-lakṣaṇa) and bodily portents; Garuda Purana: Yama-dūta approach and fear-inducing signs preceding departure
FAQs
This verse treats certain unusual bodily changes—pallor, pain, and deformity-like appearance—as outward indicators of inner karmic afflictions, used to understand suffering in the deathward/post-death context described in the Preta Kanda.
By listing distressing symptoms and repulsive bodily changes, it frames how karmic burdens can manifest as suffering around the transition period, aligning with the Preta Kanda’s broader narrative of consequences experienced on the way to Yama’s domain.
Treat suffering and the approach of death as a prompt for dharmic living—truthfulness, restraint of harmful speech (tongue), and remedial religious acts (prāyaścitta, charity, and ancestral rites) rather than denial or cruelty toward the afflicted.