Shloka 8

Aśoka-śāstra: Nārada’s Instruction on the Cessation of Śoka

Grief

Devanagari script

अरिष्टानि प्रवक्ष्यामि विहितानि मनीषिभि: । संवत्सरवियोगस्य सम्भवन्ति शरीरिण:

Transliteration

ariṣṭāni pravakṣyāmi vihitāni manīṣibhiḥ | saṃvatsaraviyogasya sambhavanti śarīriṇaḥ ||

Translation

Yājñavalkya said: “I shall now describe the ominous portents—signs of death—recognized and set forth by the wise, which arise before an embodied being when only one year remains until the separation from the body.”

Word by Word

• {'ariṣṭāni': 'inauspicious signs

• ominous portents (often indicating impending death)', 'pravakṣyāmi': 'I will declare

• I will explain', 'vihitāni': 'laid down

• established (by authoritative tradition)', 'manīṣibhiḥ': 'by the wise

• by sages and discerning thinkers', 'saṃvatsara': 'a year', 'viyoga': 'separation

• disjunction (here: separation from the body)', 'saṃvatsaraviyogasya': 'of the separation (from the body) after a year

• when a year remains until separation', 'sambhavanti': 'arise

• come to be', 'śarīriṇaḥ': 'of an embodied being

Speaker

याज्ञवल्क्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yājñavalkya

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames death as a knowable transition marked by recognizable signs, emphasizing the role of wise tradition in preparing a person ethically and mentally for life’s impermanence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Yājñavalkya begins a systematic exposition: he announces that he will list the established ominous indicators that appear when an embodied person has about one year remaining before death.