Shloka 12

आत्यन्तिक-लयहेतुः: तापत्रय-विवेचनम् तथा ‘भगवान्/वासुदेव’ शब्दार्थः

Threefold Suffering and the Path to Final Liberation; Meaning of Bhagavān and Vāsudeva

Devanagari script

प्रसारणाकुञ्चनादौ नाङ्गानां प्रभुर् आत्मनः शकृन्मूत्रमहापङ्कशायी सर्वत्रपीडितः

Transliteration

prasāraṇākuñcanādau nāṅgānāṃ prabhur ātmanaḥ śakṛnmūtramahāpaṅkaśāyī sarvatrapīḍitaḥ

Translation

In stretching, contracting, and the like, he is not master of his own limbs; sunk and lying in a vast mire of excrement and urine, he is afflicted and oppressed on every side.

Word by Word

• प्रसारण: stretching, extension
• प्रसारण: Viṣaya/Adhikaraṇa (Topic/Locative sense in compound)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्र + सृ (धातु) + ल्युट् (कृदन्त/नाम)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया एकवचन (stem in compound)

• आकुञ्चन: contracting, bending
• आकुञ्चन: Viṣaya/Adhikaraṇa
• Type: Noun
• Root: आ + कुञ्च् (धातु) + ल्युट् (कृदन्त/नाम)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया एकवचन (stem in compound)

• आदौ: in (such acts) etc., at the beginning/with respect to
• आदौ: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: आदि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; सप्तमी (7th/अधिकरण) एकवचन; क्रियाविशेषणार्थे (locative used adverbially: 'in the matter of/at')

• न: not
• न: Kriyāniṣedha (Negation)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेधार्थक अव्यय (negation particle)

• अङ्गानाम्: of the limbs
• अङ्गानाम्: Sambandha (Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अङ्ग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; षष्ठी (6th/सम्बन्ध) बहुवचन

• प्रभुः: master, able (one)
• प्रभुः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रभु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा) एकवचन

• आत्मनः: of himself
• आत्मनः: Sambandha (Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: आत्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; षष्ठी (6th/सम्बन्ध) एकवचन

• शकृत्: feces
• शकृत्: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शकृत् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया एकवचन (stem in compound)

• मूत्र: urine
• मूत्र: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मूत्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया एकवचन (stem in compound)

• महā: great, huge
• महā: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया एकवचन (stem in compound)

• पङ्क: mud, mire
• पङ्क: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पङ्क (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया एकवचन (stem in compound)

• शायी: lying (in), one who lies
• शायी: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शी (धातु) + णिनि/इन् (कृदन्त)
• Form: कृदन्त (agent noun); पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समास: शकृन्मूत्रमहापङ्के शायी (lying in the great mire of feces and urine)

• सर्वत्र: everywhere
• सर्वत्र: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सर्वत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; देशवाचक क्रियाविशेषण (adverb of place)

• पीडितः: afflicted, tormented
• पीडितः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पीड् (धातु) + क्त (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि क्त-प्रत्ययान्त; पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा एकवचन

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Parasara

Topic: The nature of embodied suffering and the causes that lead to dispassion and liberation

Teaching: Ethical

Quality: revealing

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: The jīva’s lack of mastery over the body and its immersion in impurity exposes the folly of bodily pride and sense-attachment.

Vedantic Theme: Maya

Application: Practice humility and body-detachment (dehābhimāna-tyāga) through daily reflection and disciplined living.

Vishishtadvaita: The body is a real upādhi of the jīva under karma; liberation is not by bodily control alone but by surrender to the Lord’s grace.

Vaishnava Theology

Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman

Bhakti Type: Shanta

Characters & Entities

• Parāśara
• Maitreya

FAQs

What is the significance of describing loss of control over one’s limbs in the Vishnu Purana?

It illustrates karmic bondage: when consciousness is obscured by past actions, the embodied being lacks mastery even over basic bodily functions, highlighting dependence and suffering in saṃsāra.

How does Sage Parāśara explain the experience of extreme impurity and torment here?

Parāśara uses stark imagery—lying in filth and being afflicted on all sides—to convey the tangible misery of degraded states of existence produced by adharma and accumulated karma.

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

By showing the jīva’s helplessness in bondage, the passage implicitly points to Vishnu as the true sovereign and refuge—liberation requires turning toward the Supreme Reality beyond karmic compulsion.