Shloka 48
पायूपस्थौ करौ पादौ वाक् च मैत्रेय पञ्चमी विसर्गशिल्पगत्युक्ति कर्म तेषां च कथ्यते
pāyūpasthau karau pādau vāk ca maitreya pañcamī visargaśilpagatyukti karma teṣāṃ ca kathyate
O Maitreya, the anus and the generative organ, the hands and the feet, and speech—these are the five organs of action. Their functions are said to be, in order: excretion, procreation, craft and work, movement, and utterance.
Sage Parāśara (speaking to Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Enumeration of the five karmendriyas and their respective functions
Teaching: Cosmological
Quality: clear
Creation Stage: Primary
Concept: The five organs of action—excretion, generation, hands, feet, and speech—have distinct functions that structure embodied activity.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Sanctify action through restraint and truthful speech; align bodily functions with dharma and sāttvika living.
Vishishtadvaita: Karmendriyas are instruments for dharmic service (kainkarya) within the Lord’s order; action becomes meaningful when offered to Him.
Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman
FAQs
This verse lists key organs of action—speech, hands, feet, and the excretory and generative organs—and assigns their functions, showing how embodied life performs karma within the ordered structure of creation.
Parāśara maps each organ to its specific activity—utterance, movement, craft/work, excretion, and procreation—presenting action as structured and purposeful rather than random, fitting into the wider cosmological account he is teaching Maitreya.
Even when Vishnu is not named in the line, the Purana’s framework treats these faculties and their orderly functions as part of the governed cosmos—creation operating under the Supreme Reality’s sovereignty through the principles of prakṛti and embodied karma.