Shloka 23

मानवसर्गः, चातुर्वर्ण्य-गुणकर्म, यज्ञ-प्रतिपादनम्, आश्रमधर्म-फल, नरकवर्णनम्

Devanagari script

इत्य् एता ओषधीनां तु ग्राम्यानां जातयो मुने ओषध्यो यज्ञियाश् चैव ग्राम्यारण्याश् चतुर्दश

Transliteration

ity etā oṣadhīnāṃ tu grāmyānāṃ jātayo mune oṣadhyo yajñiyāś caiva grāmyāraṇyāś caturdaśa

Translation

Thus, O sage, these are the classes of cultivated plants. And among the sacred herbs used in yajña—whether found in settlements or in the wild—there are fourteen kinds in all.

Word by Word

• इति: thus
• इति: Nipata (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, इत्यादि-निपात (उद्धरण/समाप्ति) — quotative particle

• एताः: these
• एताः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: एतद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन — Feminine, Nominative, Plural

• ओषधीनाम्: of plants/herbs
• ओषधीनाम्: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ओषधी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति, बहुवचन — Feminine, Genitive, Plural

• तु: indeed/but
• तु: Nipata (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, विरोध/विशेषार्थक — particle (‘but/indeed’)

• ग्राम्यानाम्: domesticated, cultivated
• ग्राम्यानाम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ग्राम्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति, बहुवचन — Genitive, Plural (agreeing with implied ‘ओषधीनाम्’)

• जातयः: kinds, species
• जातयः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जाति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन — Feminine, Nominative, Plural

• मुने: O sage
• मुने: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मुनि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन-विभक्ति, एकवचन — Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• ओषध्यः: plants/herbs
• ओषध्यः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ओषधी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन — Feminine, Nominative, Plural

• यज्ञियाः: fit for sacrifice
• यज्ञियाः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: यज्ञिय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन — Feminine, Nominative, Plural (agreeing with ओषध्यः)

• च: and
• च: Samuccaya (Conjunction/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, समुच्चय — conjunction

• एव: also/indeed
• एव: Nipata (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, अवधारण — particle

• ग्राम्य-अरण्याः: domestic and wild
• ग्राम्य-अरण्याः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ग्राम्य (प्रातिपदिक) + अरण्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन — Feminine, Nominative, Plural; द्वन्द्व (‘ग्राम्याश्च अरण्याश्च’)

• चतुर्दश: fourteen
• चतुर्दश: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चतुर्दश (संख्याशब्द-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययवत्/नपुंसकलिङ्ग-एकवचन-प्रथमा (गणनार्थ), संख्या-विशेषण — numeral ‘fourteen’

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (speaking to Maitreya)

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Parasara

Topic: How are plants classified—cultivated and sacrificial—across village and forest contexts?

Teaching: Cosmological

Quality: authoritative

Cosmological Context

Creation Stage: Secondary

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Yajña depends on sanctified elements of nature; cultivated and wild plants alike become instruments of dharma when used with right intention.

Vedantic Theme: Dharma

Application: Honor ecological sources of worship—harvest responsibly, avoid waste in ritual, and link devotion with environmental care.

Vishishtadvaita: Nature’s sanctity is grounded in its relation to the Lord; offerings are meaningful because the world is truly His and serves as a medium of communion.

Vaishnava Theology

Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman

FAQs

What is the significance of yajñiya (sacrificial) plants in the Vishnu Purana?

This verse highlights that certain herbs are specifically regarded as fit for yajña, showing how ritual order (dharma) is supported by a divinely structured natural world.

How does Sage Parāśara explain cosmic order through classification in this chapter?

By enumerating kinds of beings and resources—here, cultivated and wild sacrificial plants—Parāśara presents creation as an intelligible, ordered system rather than a random emergence.

What is the theological importance of Lord Vishnu in this context?

Even when Vishnu is not named in the verse, the Vishnu Purana frames such ordered creation and dharmic utility (like yajña) as resting upon the Supreme Reality—Vishnu—as the sustaining ground of the cosmos.