Shloka 77

भरतचरितम्—मृगासक्ति-हेतुकः समाधिभङ्गः, जातिस्मरत्वं, रहूगण-जाḍभरत-संवादः

Devanagari script

सुखदुःखोपभोगौ तु तौ देहाद्युपपादकौ धर्माधर्मोद्भवौ भोक्तुं जन्तुर् देहादिम् ऋच्छति

Transliteration

sukhaduḥkhopabhogau tu tau dehādyupapādakau dharmādharmodbhavau bhoktuṃ jantur dehādim ṛcchati

Translation

The experiences of pleasure and pain are indeed the causes that bring about a body and its adjuncts; born of dharma and adharma, a living being attains embodiment precisely in order to undergo their fruition.

Word by Word

• सुखदुःखोपभोगौ: the experiences of pleasure and pain
• सुखदुःखोपभोगौ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सुख (प्रातिपदिक) + दुःख (प्रातिपदिक) + उपभोग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), द्विवचन; द्वन्द्व-पूर्वपदेन षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (सुखदुःखयोः उपभोगौ)

• तु: but/indeed
• तु: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु (अव्यय)
• Form: विरोध/अवधारणार्थक-अव्यय (but/indeed)

• तौ: those two
• तौ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), द्विवचन; निर्देश-सर्वनाम

• देहाद्युपपादकौ: producers of the body etc.
• देहाद्युपपादकौ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: देहादि (प्रातिपदिक) + उपपादक (प्रातिपदिक; कृदन्ताधारित)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), द्विवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (देहादेः उपपादकौ) विशेषण

• धर्माधर्मोद्भवौ: arising from dharma and adharma
• धर्माधर्मोद्भवौ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: धर्म (प्रातिपदिक) + अधर्म (प्रातिपदिक) + उद्भव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), द्विवचन; द्वन्द्व-पूर्वपदेन षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (धर्माधर्मयोः उद्भवौ) विशेषण

• भोक्तुम्: to experience/enjoy
• भोक्तुम्: Prayojana (Purpose/प्रयोजन)
• Type: Verb
• Root: भुज् (धातु)
• Form: तुमुन्-प्रत्ययान्त अव्यय-रूप (Infinitive)

• जन्तुः: the living being
• जन्तुः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जन्तु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• देहादिम्: a body etc.
• देहादिम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: देहादि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• ऋच्छति: attains, obtains
• ऋच्छति: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ऋच्छ्/ऋ (धातु; गत्यर्थ)
• Form: लट् (Present), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Pleasure and pain are the fruition of dharma and adharma, and embodiment arises as the necessary instrument for experiencing those karmic results.

Vedantic Theme: Dharma

Application: Choose actions with long-term karmic clarity; practice restraint and compassion to reduce adharma-driven suffering and cultivate sattvic outcomes.

Vishishtadvaita: Karma operates within a divinely ordered moral cosmos: the jīva reaps real fruits, yet the system is sustained and regulated by the supreme Lord as inner ruler and dispenser of results.

Vaishnava Theology

Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman

Bhakti Type: shanta

Antaryamin: Yes

Jagat Karana: Yes

Characters & Entities

• Jīva (individual being)
• Dharma
• Adharma
• Karma (implied)

FAQs

What is the significance of pleasure and pain in the Vishnu Purana?

This verse frames pleasure and pain as karmic outcomes that necessitate embodiment—one receives a body so that dharma and adharma can bear experiential fruit.

How does Sage Parāśara explain why a jīva takes birth?

Parāśara explains birth as functional: the living being attains a body and its faculties specifically to undergo (bhoktum) the results produced by merit and demerit.

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

By highlighting samsaric causality (karma → embodiment → experience), the text implicitly points to Vishnu as the Supreme refuge whose grace and devotion enable transcendence beyond dharma-adharma’s binding results.