Shloka 35

Adhyāya 42 — Mahābhūta–Indriya–Adhyātma-Vyavasthā

Brahmā’s Instruction on Elements and Faculties

Devanagari script

स्वेदजा: कृमय: प्रोक्ता जन्तवश्न॒ यथाक्रमम्‌

Transliteration

svedajāḥ kṛmayaḥ proktā jantavaś ca yathākramam

Translation

Vāyu-deva bersabda: “Makhluk yang lahir dari keringat/kelembapan dinyatakan sebagai cacing dan sejenisnya, makhluk-makhluk halus; demikianlah, menurut urutan, golongan makhluk hidup dijelaskan.”

Word by Word

• स्वेदजाः: sweat-born (creatures)
• स्वेदजाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्वेदज
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• कृमयः: worms
• कृमयः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: कृमि
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• प्रोक्ताः: are said/declared
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र-वच्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural, Past passive participle (क्त)

• जन्तवः: living beings/creatures
• जन्तवः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: जन्तु
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• यथाक्रमम्: in due order/ क्रमशः
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा-क्रमम्

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• वायुदेव (Vāyu-deva)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse presents a traditional, ordered taxonomy of life, identifying “sweat-born” beings as kṛmi (worms/minute creatures), emphasizing that creation and life-forms can be understood through systematic categories.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyu-deva is instructing the listener by enumerating types of living beings in sequence; here he reaches the category of sweat-born creatures and names them as kṛmi.