Shloka 48

Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)

Devanagari script

नीयते यमदूतैस्तु यमस्याज्ञाकरैर्बलात्‌

Transliteration

nīyate yamadūtais tu yamasya ājñākarair balāt

Translation

ヴァイシャンパーヤナは言った。「彼はヤマの使者たち――死の主の命を執行する者ども――によって力ずくで連れ去られる。裁きの時が来れば、己が業の報いがいかに免れがたく迫るかが、ここに示されるのである。」

Word by Word

• नीयते: is being led/taken
• नीयते: Karma
• Type: Verb
• Root: नी (नयति)
• Form: Present (Lat), Passive (Karmani), 3rd, Singular

• यमदूतैः: by Yama's messengers
• यमदूतैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: यमदूत
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• तु: indeed/but
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु

• यमस्य: of Yama
• यमस्य: Sambandha
• Type: Noun
• Root: यम
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• आज्ञाकरैः: by the command-executors (obedient servants)
• आज्ञाकरैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: आज्ञाकर
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• बलात्: by force/forcibly
• बलात्: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: बल
• Form: Neuter, Ablative, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Yama
• Yamadūtas

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the inevitability of karmic accountability: when the appointed time comes, the agents of Yama enforce the moral order, and one cannot evade the consequences of one’s actions.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana describes a person being seized and taken away by Yama’s messengers, who act under Yama’s authority, emphasizing the forceful and unavoidable nature of the transition to judgment after death.