Shloka 75

Śama-prāptiḥ — Gautamī–Lubdhaka–Pannaga–Mṛtyu–Kāla-saṃvāda

Restraint through the Analysis of Karma and Time

Devanagari script

यथा च्छायातपौ नित्यं सुसम्बद्धौ निरन्तरम्‌ । तथा कर्म च कर्ता च सम्बद्धावात्मकर्मभि:

Transliteration

yathā cchāyātapau nityaṃ susambaddhau nirantaram | tathā karma ca kartā ca sambaddhāv ātmakarmabhiḥ ||

Translation

日光と影とが常に絶え間なく結びつき、離れがたいように、行為（カルマ）と行為者もまた途切れることなく結ばれている――人はそれぞれ、自らの性質と振る舞いから生じた行いの果報と、その道徳的な質に結び付けられている。

Word by Word

• यथा: just as
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा

• च्छाया: shadow (and)
• च्छाया: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: छाया
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Dual

• आतपौ: sunshine/heat (and)
• आतपौ: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: आतप
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Dual

• नित्यम्: always
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: नित्य

• सुसम्बद्धौ: well-connected/closely linked
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सु-सम्बद्ध
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Dual

• निरन्तरम्: continuously, without break
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: निरन्तर

• तथा: so, in the same way
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

• कर्म: action/deed
• कर्म: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: कर्मन्
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

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

• कर्ता: doer/agent
• कर्ता: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: कर्तृ
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

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

• सम्बद्धौ: connected/related
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सम्बद्ध
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Dual

• आत्मकर्मभिः: by/through their own actions
• आत्मकर्मभिः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: आत्मकर्मन्
• Form: Neuter, Instrumental, Plural

Speaker

काल उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Kāla (Time/Death personified)
• shadow (cchāyā)
• sunlight/heat (ātapa)
• karma (action)
• kartā (doer)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches inseparable moral linkage: actions (karma) and the agent (kartā) cannot be separated, just as sunlight and shadow coexist. One remains bound to one’s deeds and their ethical consequences.

What is happening in the narrative?

Kāla (personified Time/Death) speaks in a didactic mode, using a natural analogy (sunlight and shadow) to explain a moral principle about how the doer is continuously connected to action and its results.