Shloka 28

ऋभु–निदाघ-संवादः—अद्वैत-उपदेशः, समता, वासुदेव-स्वरूप-एकत्वम्

Devanagari script

अमृष्टं जायते मृष्टं मृष्टाद् उद्विजते जनः आदिमध्यावसानेषु किम् अन्नं रुचिकारकम्

Transliteration

amṛṣṭaṃ jāyate mṛṣṭaṃ mṛṣṭād udvijate janaḥ ādimadhyāvasāneṣu kim annaṃ rucikārakam

Translation

From what is unseasoned arises what is seasoned; yet even from what is seasoned people grow weary and recoil. Tell me—what food is truly delightful at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end?

Word by Word

• अमृष्टम्: unclean
• अमृष्टम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अ-मृष्ट (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन

• जायते: becomes/is born
• जायते: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: जन् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (वर्तमान), आत्मनेपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन

• मृष्टम्: clean
• मृष्टम्: Karma (Result/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मृष्ट (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; predicate complement

• मृष्टात्: from the clean (state)
• मृष्टात्: Apadana (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मृष्ट (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5), एकवचन; ablative (from the clean)

• उद्विजते: is disturbed/shrinks back
• उद्विजते: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: उद् + विज् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (वर्तमान), आत्मनेपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन

• जनः: a person/people
• जनः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन

• आदि-मध्य-अवसानेषु: in the beginning, middle, and end
• आदि-मध्य-अवसानेषु: Adhikarana (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: आदि + मध्य + अवसान (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7), बहुवचन; इतरेतर-द्वन्द्व (in beginnings, middles, and ends)

• किम्: what
• किम्: Visheshana (Interrogative qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: किम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; interrogative

• अन्नम्: food
• अन्नम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अन्न (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन

• रुचिकारकम्: taste-producing/pleasing
• रुचिकारकम्: Visheshana (Adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: रुचि + कारक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (रुचेः कारकम्)

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (in instruction to Maitreya, illustrating the fickleness of sense-taste and desire)

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Parasara

Topic: Why sensory delight is inherently unstable—how even the ‘seasoned’ becomes a cause of weariness—and what can truly satisfy.

Teaching: Ethical

Quality: probing, rhetorical instruction aimed at dispassion

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Sense-pleasures mutate and exhaust themselves—what begins as attractive becomes tiresome—so no object can remain delightful through beginning, middle, and end.

Vedantic Theme: Maya

Application: Track the lifecycle of cravings (anticipation → enjoyment → fatigue) to weaken compulsive pursuit and choose steadier spiritual practices.

Vishishtadvaita: The verse implicitly contrasts transient object-based rasa with enduring joy grounded in the Lord, encouraging turning desire toward bhagavad-anubhava.

Vaishnava Theology

Bhakti Type: Shanta

FAQs

What is the significance of changing taste (ruci) in the Vishnu Purana?

This verse uses food as a metaphor to show that sensory pleasure is unreliable: even what seems delightful quickly becomes tiresome, prompting the seeker to value steadier, dharmic aims.

How does Sage Parāśara explain dissatisfaction through everyday experience?

He points to a universal pattern—people move from plain to refined tastes, then still feel aversion—demonstrating that the mind’s craving, not the object, drives dissatisfaction.

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

By exposing the limits of sense-enjoyment, the teaching implicitly redirects the listener toward Vishnu as the stable Supreme Reality and true refuge beyond fluctuating pleasures.