Shloka 25

Devanagari script

दातोरॢङ् क्रियातिपत्तौ लिङर्थे लेट् प्रकीर्तितः / कृतस्त्रिष्वपि वर्तन्ते भावे कर्मणि कर्तरि

Transliteration

dātorḷṅ kriyātipattau liṅarthe leṭ prakīrtitaḥ / kṛtastriṣvapi vartante bhāve karmaṇi kartari

Translation

നടക്കാമായിരുന്നെങ്കിലും നടന്നില്ലാത്ത ‘ക്രിയാതിപത്തി’ അർത്ഥത്തിൽ ധാതുവിൽ നിന്ന് ‘ഌങ്’ വരും; ‘ലിങ്’ അർത്ഥം പ്രകടിപ്പിക്കുന്നതായി ‘ലേട്’ പ്രസ്താവിതമാണ്. അതുപോലെ ‘കൃത്’ प्रत्यയാന്ത രൂപങ്ങൾ ഭാവം, കർമ്മം, കർത്താവ്—മൂന്നിലും പ്രയോഗിക്കപ്പെടുന്നു.

Word by Word

दातोःof the root (dā)

लृङ्lṛṅ (conditional)

क्रियातिपत्तौin counterfactual action (non-occurrence)

लिङर्थेin the sense of liṅ (optative meaning)

लेट्leṭ (Vedic subjunctive)

प्रकीर्तितःis proclaimed

कृतःkṛt-affixes/participles

त्रिषुin three (ways)

अपिalso

वर्तन्तेoccur/are used

भावेin the sense of action/state (bhāva)

कर्मणिin the passive/object sense (karmaṇi)

कर्तरिin the agent sense (kartari)

Speaker

Lord Vishnu (in dialogue with Garuda/Vinata-putra)

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Modality and voice/valency: conditional (counterfactual), injunctive/optative force, and participial derivatives functioning in bhāva/karma/kartṛ constructions.

Vedantic Theme: Analytic discrimination (viveka) applied to language: separating action, agent, and object—supporting clarity of thought.

Application: In translation and exegesis, identify whether a kṛt-form is agentive, objective, or abstract; recognize counterfactual conditionals in narrative reasoning.

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: shanta

Secondary Rasa: adbhuta

Cross References

Related Themes: Garuda Purana 1.205.21-24 (lakāra system leading to ḷṅ/leṭ and kṛt usage)

Characters & Entities

Garuda

Vishnu

FAQs

What is the importance of verbal moods like ḷṅ and leṭ in the Garuda Purana?

This verse frames how to read and construe statements correctly: ḷṅ signals counterfactual/“would have” meanings, and leṭ can carry liṅ-like optative force—preventing misinterpretation during study or ritual recitation.

How does this verse explain the path of the soul?

Indirectly: it does not describe afterlife geography here, but it gives interpretive tools (moods and kṛt-forms) needed to understand later doctrinal passages about karma, rites, and post-death states with grammatical precision.

Practical application of this wisdom today?

When studying or chanting the Garuda Purana (especially for death rites and śrāddha contexts), use this rule to parse meanings accurately—distinguishing advice/possibility (liṅ/leṭ) from counterfactual statements (ḷṅ), and recognizing whether a kṛt-form points to the act, the object, or the doer.