Shloka 7

Karma-vipāka: Truth, Yama’s Judgment, and the Marks of Sin in Rebirth

Devanagari script

श्रीकृष्ण उवाच / शुभाशुभफलैस्तार्क्ष्य भुक्तभोगा नरास्त्विह / जायन्ते लक्षणैर्यैस्तुतानि मे शृणु काश्यप

Transliteration

śrīkṛṣṇa uvāca / śubhāśubhaphalaistārkṣya bhuktabhogā narāstviha / jāyante lakṣaṇairyaistutāni me śṛṇu kāśyapa

Translation

Śrī Kṛṣṇa said: O Tārkṣya, here in this world human beings are born bearing the marks that arise from the fruits of their auspicious and inauspicious deeds already experienced. O Kāśyapa, listen to those signs from Me.

Word by Word

• śrī-kṛṣṇaḥ: Śrī Kṛṣṇa
• śrī-kṛṣṇaḥ: Karta (कर्ता/speaker)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śrī (श्री) + kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण)
• Form: Karmadhāraya-samāsa (honorific + name), puṃliṅga (masculine), prathamā-vibhakti (nominative), ekavacana (singular)

• uvāca: said
• uvāca: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vac (वच् धातु)
• Form: Liṭ-lakāra (perfect), prathama-puruṣa (3rd person), ekavacana (singular), parasmaipada

• śubha-aśubha-phalaiḥ: by good-and-bad fruits (results)
• śubha-aśubha-phalaiḥ: Karaṇa (करण/instrument/cause)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śubha (शुभ) + aśubha (अशुभ) + phala (फल)
• Form: Dvandva-samāsa (itaretara: ‘good and bad’ qualifying phala), napuṃsakaliṅga (neuter) collective, tṛtīyā-vibhakti (instrumental), bahuvacana (plural)

• tārkṣya: O Tārkṣya (Garuda)
• tārkṣya: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन/address)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tārkṣya (तार्क्ष्य प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga (masculine), sambodhana (vocative), ekavacana (singular)

• bhukta-bhogāḥ: having experienced (their) enjoyments
• bhukta-bhogāḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण of narāḥ)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: bhukta (भुक्त; √bhuj भुज् + क्त) + bhoga (भोग)
• Form: Tatpuruṣa-samāsa (कर्मधारय/षष्ठी sense: ‘whose enjoyments have been enjoyed’), puṃliṅga (masculine), prathamā-vibhakti (nominative), bahuvacana (plural)

• narāḥ: men/people
• narāḥ: Karta (कर्ता/subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nara (नर प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga (masculine), prathamā-vibhakti (nominative), bahuvacana (plural)

• tu: indeed/but
• tu: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: Avyaya, particle (निपात)

• iha: here (in this world)
• iha: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण/location)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: iha (अव्यय)
• Form: Avyaya, adverb (देशवाचक)

• jāyante: are born
• jāyante: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: jan (जन् धातु)
• Form: Laṭ-lakāra (present), prathama-puruṣa (3rd person), bahuvacana (plural), ātmanepada

• lakṣaṇaiḥ: with signs/characteristics
• lakṣaṇaiḥ: Karaṇa (करण/means; ‘with marks’)
• Type: Noun
• Root: lakṣaṇa (लक्षण प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Napuṃsakaliṅga (neuter), tṛtīyā-vibhakti (instrumental), bahuvacana (plural)

• yaiḥ: by which
• yaiḥ: Karaṇa (करण/correlative instrument)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (यद् सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Sarvanāma (pronoun), napuṃsakaliṅga (neuter), tṛtīyā-vibhakti (instrumental), bahuvacana (plural)

• tu: indeed
• tu: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: Avyaya, particle

• tāni: those (things)
• tāni: Karma (कर्म/object of hearing)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (तद् सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Sarvanāma (pronoun), napuṃsakaliṅga (neuter), dvitīyā-vibhakti (accusative), bahuvacana (plural)

• me: from me/my
• me: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/possessor)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (अस्मद् सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Pronoun, ṣaṣṭhī-vibhakti (genitive), ekavacana (singular) enclitic

• śṛṇu: hear/listen
• śṛṇu: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: śru (श्रु धातु)
• Form: Loṭ-lakāra (imperative), madhyama-puruṣa (2nd person), ekavacana (singular), parasmaipada

• kāśyapa: O Kāśyapa
• kāśyapa: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन/address)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāśyapa (काश्यप प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga (masculine), sambodhana (vocative), ekavacana (singular)

Speaker

Śrī Kṛṣṇa (as narrator/teacher within the Garuda Purana dialogue tradition)

Pretakalpa Layer

Afterlife Stage: Pretayoni

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Humans are born with distinguishing marks (lakṣaṇas) arising from the fruits of auspicious/inauspicious deeds already undergone; these signs can be taught/recognized.

Vedantic Theme: Prārabdha karma shaping embodiment; guṇa-karma imprinting the subtle body and expressing as bodily/psychological traits; divine omniscience as the ground of the teaching.

Application: Interpret life circumstances and tendencies as prompts for ethical correction rather than fatalism; cultivate puṇya and bhakti to reshape future outcomes; listen carefully to scriptural guidance.

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: shanta

Secondary Rasa: adbhuta

Cross References

Related Themes: Garuda Purana: lakṣaṇa-based karma readings; lists of bodily signs and corresponding past deeds; broader Pretakalpa linkage between deeds and post-mortem/next-birth outcomes

Characters & Entities

• Tārkṣya (Garuda)
• Kāśyapa (epithet/address to Garuda)

FAQs

What is the importance of karmic “signs” (lakṣaṇa) in the Garuda Purana?

This verse frames bodily and life-indicators as outcomes of previously experienced good and bad karma, introducing a diagnostic way the text explains rebirth and destiny.

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

It implies continuity: after undergoing karmic enjoyments and sufferings, the jīva returns to birth carrying identifiable marks shaped by śubha and aśubha results.

Practical application of this wisdom today?

Cultivate ethical action and restraint, recognizing that choices leave lasting impressions; focus on dharmic conduct to shape better outcomes in future circumstances.