Shloka 137

Āśauca, Daśāha Piṇḍa-Rites, Vṛṣotsarga, Sāpiṇḍīkaraṇa, and the Yama-mārga

Path to Yama

Devanagari script

क्वाहं सतूलीशयने परिवर्तन् क्षणे क्षणे / भटहस्तभ्रष्टयष्टिकृष्टपृष्ठः क्व वा पुनः

Transliteration

kvāhaṃ satūlīśayane parivartan kṣaṇe kṣaṇe / bhaṭahastabhraṣṭayaṣṭikṛṣṭapṛṣṭhaḥ kva vā punaḥ

Translation

Where am I now—once turning again and again, moment after moment, upon a soft, cotton-stuffed bed? And where am I now instead—my back being dragged and struck by a staff that has slipped from the soldier-guards’ hands?

Word by Word

• क्व: where
• क्व: Sambandha (Context/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: क्व (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; प्रश्नार्थक-अव्यय (interrogative adverb: where?)

• अहम्: I
• अहम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम; उत्तमपुरुषार्थे; एकवचन; प्रथमा (Nominative singular)

• सतूलीशयने: on a cushioned bed
• सतूलीशयने: Adhikarana (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स-तूली-शयन (प्रातिपदिक; समास)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; सप्तमी (7th/Locative); एकवचन; समास-विग्रहः: तूलीयुक्ते शयने (in a bed with a pillow/cushion)

• परिवर्तन्: turning/restlessly shifting
• परिवर्तन्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: परि√वृत् (धातु) + शतृ (कृदन्त)
• Form: वर्तमानकालिक-कर्तरि शतृ-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त; पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; एकवचन (present active participle: turning)

• क्षणे: in a moment
• क्षणे: Adhikarana (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्षण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; सप्तमी (Locative); एकवचन

• क्षणे: every moment
• क्षणे: Adhikarana (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्षण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; सप्तमी (Locative); एकवचन; पुनरुक्ति (kṣaṇe kṣaṇe = every moment)

• भटहस्तभ्रष्टयष्टिकृष्टपृष्ठः: (I) whose back is dragged by a stick dropped from a guard’s hand
• भटहस्तभ्रष्टयष्टिकृष्टपृष्ठः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: भट-हस्त-भ्रष्ट-यष्टि-कृष्ट-पृष्ठ (प्रातिपदिक; समास)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; एकवचन; बहुव्रीहिः (one whose back is dragged/pulled by a stick slipped from a soldier's hand)

• क्व: where
• क्व: Sambandha (Context/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: क्व (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; प्रश्नार्थक-अव्यय (where?)

• वा: or/indeed
• वा: Sambandha (Context/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; विकल्पार्थक-निपात (particle: or/indeed)

• पुनः: again/then
• पुनः: Sambandha (Context/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पुनः (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; पुनरुक्ति/कालवाचक-अव्यय (again; on the other hand)

Speaker

Preta (departed soul) describing its own condition while being taken by Yama’s attendants

Pretakalpa Layer

Afterlife Stage: Yamaloka Journey

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Worldly सुख (comfort) is impermanent; after death one undergoes karmically-governed suffering and loss of agency.

Vedantic Theme: अनित्यत्व (impermanence) and कर्मफल; disidentification from bodily pleasure as a spur toward vairāgya.

Application: Cultivate detachment and ethical living; remember death (maraṇa-smṛti) and prioritize dharma and devotion over luxury.

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: karuna

Secondary Rasa: bhayanaka

Cross References

Related Themes: Garuda Purana Pretakalpa: descriptions of Yamadūtas dragging the soul and the soul’s lament over lost pleasures (adjacent verses in 2.5).; Garuda Purana: repeated ‘kva… kva…’ lament motif in the soul’s journey sections.

Characters & Entities

• Preta
• Yama-dutas (implied by bhaṭa/guards)

FAQs

What is the importance of contrasting worldly comfort with after-death suffering in the Garuda Purana?

This verse highlights impermanence: pleasures like soft beds are fleeting, while karmic consequences can lead to harsh restraint by Yama’s attendants, urging ethical living and timely rites.

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

It portrays the preta’s helpless condition under the control of guards (Yama-dutas), emphasizing that after death the jiva undergoes experiences shaped by karma rather than personal choice or comfort.

Practical application of this wisdom today?

Live with restraint and dharma, reduce harmful actions, and treat death rites and remembrance practices seriously—so one’s post-death course is not marked by fear and coercive suffering.