Shloka 19

Dietary Rules & Purification — Dietary Rules, Purification (Śauca), and the Duties of the Householder and Forest-Dweller

Devanagari script

उदक्याश्वाननग्नांश्च सूतिकान्त्यावसायिनः स्पृष्ट्वा स्नायीत शौचार्थं तथैव मृतहारिणः

Transliteration

udakyāśvānanagnāṃśca sūtikāntyāvasāyinaḥ spṛṣṭvā snāyīta śaucārthaṃ tathaiva mṛtahāriṇaḥ

Translation

月経中の女、馬、犬、裸の者、産婦、または賤業の者に触れたなら、清浄のために沐浴すべきである。同様に、死者を運ぶ者に触れた後も沐浴すべきである。

Word by Word

• उदक्या: menstruating women
• उदक्या: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: उदक्या (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (कर्म), बहुवचन; accusative plural feminine

• अश्वान्: horses
• अश्वान्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अश्व (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचन; accusative plural masculine

• अनग्नान्: those without sacred fire
• अनग्नान्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अनग्न (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचन; accusative plural masculine; विशेषण—(अग्निहीन)

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक-निपात; conjunction

• सूतिका: a woman in childbirth / puerperal woman
• सूतिका: Sahakari/Karana (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सूतिका (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया (करण), एकवचन; instrumental singular feminine

• अन्त्या: an outcaste/low-born (woman)
• अन्त्या: Sahakari/Karana (करण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अन्त्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन; instrumental singular feminine; विशेषण—(अन्त्यजाति/नीच)

• अवसायिनः: those who deal with/handle (them)
• अवसायिनः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अवसायिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (कर्ता), बहुवचन; nominative plural masculine

• स्पृष्ट्वा: having touched
• स्पृष्ट्वा: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्पृश् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (अव्ययकृदन्त), पूर्वकाल; absolutive/gerund ‘having touched’

• स्नायीत: should bathe
• स्नायीत: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्ना (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; should bathe

• शौचार्थम्: for purification
• शौचार्थम्: Prayojana (प्रयोजन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शौच + अर्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; उद्देश्य/प्रयोजनार्थे—‘for the sake of purity’

• तथा: likewise
• तथा: Kriya-vishesana (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय—प्रकारवाचक; adverb ‘thus/in the same way’

• एव: indeed/just
• एव: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव (अव्यय)
• Form: अवधारण-निपात; emphatic particle

• मृतहारिणः: those who carry the dead
• मृतहारिणः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मृत + हारिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; nominative plural masculine; ‘dead-body carrier’

Speakers

• Pulastya → Nārada (general dharma instruction; verse-level speaker not explicit here)

Key Themes

• Vrata/Rituals
• Śauca (purity rules)
• Social-religious norms in Purāṇic dharma sections

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

{ "primaryRasa": "shanta", "secondaryRasa": "", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The verse encodes a ritual hygiene system: contact with certain liminal states (blood, birth, death) triggers bathing as a reintegration into ritual order.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana?

Not pañcalakṣaṇa narrative content; it is dharma-vidhi embedded in the Purāṇa, typical of many Purāṇas that serve as practical religious manuals.

What is the symbolic significance?

Birth and death are powerful thresholds; bathing symbolizes crossing back from liminality to sacred eligibility (adhikāra) for worship, japa, and domestic rites.