Shloka 21

Rajayakshma Nidana: Causes, Pathogenesis, Symptoms, and Prognosis

Devanagari script

पच्यते कोष्ठ एवान्नमम्लयुक्तै रसैर्युतम् / प्रायो ऽस्य क्षयभागानां नैवान्नं चाङ्गपुष्टये

Transliteration

pacyate koṣṭha evānnamamlayuktai rasairyutam / prāyo 'sya kṣayabhāgānāṃ naivānnaṃ cāṅgapuṣṭaye

Translation

Food is digested only within the gut, mingled with sour digestive juices; yet for one destined for kṣaya—wasting and decline—that food generally does not nourish the limbs at all.

Word by Word

• pacyate: is digested/cooked
• pacyate: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pac (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; आत्मनेपद (passive sense: 'is cooked/digested')

• koṣṭhe: in the stomach/abdomen
• koṣṭhe: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: koṣṭha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन

• eva: only / indeed
• eva: Sambandha (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: अवधारणार्थक अव्यय (emphatic particle)

• annam: food
• annam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: anna (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; कर्म/उद्देश्य depending on construction

• amla-yuktaiḥ: mixed with sour (substances)
• amla-yuktaiḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: amla (प्रातिपदिक) + yukta (कृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तृतीया (3rd/तृतीया), बहुवचन; (rasaiḥ) सह विशेषण; षष्ठी/उपपद-तत्पुरुष भाव: 'with sourness'

• rasaiḥ: by/with juices, tastes
• rasaiḥ: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rasa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd), बहुवचन

• yutam: combined, accompanied
• yutam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: yuj (धातु) → yuta (कृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषण (qualifying annam)

• prāyaḥ: generally / mostly
• prāyaḥ: Sambandha (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: prāyaḥ (अव्यय/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb)

• asya: of him/this (patient)
• asya: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive/षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: idam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी (6th), एकवचन; सर्वनाम (pronoun)

• kṣaya-bhāgānām: of those afflicted with consumption/wasting
• kṣaya-bhāgānām: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive/षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṣaya (प्रातिपदिक) + bhāga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), बहुवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: 'having a share/portion of wasting' = consumptives

• na: not
• na: Sambandha (Negation/निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेधार्थक अव्यय (negation)

• eva: at all / indeed
• eva: Sambandha (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: अवधारणार्थक अव्यय

• annam: food
• annam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: anna (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक अव्यय

• aṅga-puṣṭaye: for bodily nourishment
• aṅga-puṣṭaye: Sampradana (Dative/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: aṅga (प्रातिपदिक) + puṣṭi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी (4th/चतुर्थी), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: 'nourishment of the limbs/body'

Speaker

Lord Vishnu (speaking to Garuda/Vinata-putra)

Medical Ayurveda

Dosha: Mixed

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Even when processes occur (digestion), outcomes (nourishment) may fail due to underlying depletion—results depend on conditions, not mere action.

Vedantic Theme: Prakṛti’s guṇic causality; limitation of external means when inner capacity (agni/dhātu) is impaired.

Application: Do not assume intake equals nutrition; assess absorption, tissue-building, and underlying wasting; tailor diet and therapy to agni and dhātu status.

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: karuna

Secondary Rasa: bibhatsa

Cross References

Related Themes: Garuda Purana 1.152 (kṣaya-lakṣaṇa and agni/dhātu discussion)

FAQs

What is the importance of digestion (koṣṭha and rasa) in Garuda Purana?

This verse highlights that nourishment depends not merely on eating but on proper digestion and assimilation—food must be processed by internal juices; otherwise the body does not receive strength.

How does this verse connect bodily wasting (kṣaya) with spiritual causality?

By stating that even digested food may fail to nourish those “allotted to kṣaya,” the text frames certain chronic decline as tied to deeper destiny/karma beyond ordinary diet alone.

Practical application of this wisdom today?

Focus on digestion and assimilation (diet suited to one’s constitution, regular habits, avoiding foods that weaken agni), while also cultivating ethical living and mental steadiness—since the Purana links wellbeing to deeper causes than food alone.