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Shloka 59

Adhyaya 10Jaimini’s Questions on Birth, Death, Karma, and the Embodied Journey

विभीषणाः पूतिगन्धाः कूटमुद्गरपाणयः ।

आगच्छन्ति दुरात्मानो यमस्य पुरुषास्तदा ॥

vibhīṣaṇāḥ pūtigandhāḥ kūṭamudgarapāṇayaḥ / āgacchanti durātmāno yamasya puruṣās tadā

അപ്പോൾ യമന്റെ പുരുഷന്മാർ വരുന്നു—ഭയങ്കരരും ദുർഗന്ധമുള്ളവരും, കൈകളിൽ ഭാരമേറിയ ഗദകൾ ധരിച്ചവരും—ആ പാപാത്മാക്കൾ.

vibhīṣaṇāḥterrifying
vibhīṣaṇāḥ:
Karta (कर्ता)
TypeAdjective
Rootvibhīṣaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
FormMasculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Plural (बहुवचन); adjective qualifying puruṣāḥ
pūtigandhāḥfoul-smelling
pūtigandhāḥ:
Karta (कर्ता)
TypeAdjective
Rootpūti-gandha (प्रातिपदिक; pūti + gandha)
FormMasculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Plural (बहुवचन); adjective qualifying puruṣāḥ
kūṭamudgarapāṇayaḥthose with (deceptive) mallets in hand
kūṭamudgarapāṇayaḥ:
Karta (कर्ता)
TypeNoun
Rootkūṭa-mudgara-pāṇi (प्रातिपदिक; kūṭa + mudgara + pāṇi)
FormMasculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Plural (बहुवचन)
āgacchanticome, approach
āgacchanti:
Kriyā (क्रिया)
TypeVerb
Rootā-√gam (धातु)
FormPresent tense (लट्), Parasmaipada (परस्मैपद), 3rd person (प्रथमपुरुष), Plural (बहुवचन)
durātmānaḥevil-souled ones
durātmānaḥ:
Karta (कर्ता)
TypeNoun
Rootdur-ātman (प्रातिपदिक; dur + ātman)
FormMasculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Plural (बहुवचन)
yamasyaof Yama
yamasya:
Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Genitive)
TypeNoun
Rootyama (प्रातिपदिक)
FormMasculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Singular (एकवचन)
puruṣāḥmen, attendants
puruṣāḥ:
Karta (कर्ता)
TypeNoun
Rootpuruṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
FormMasculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Plural (बहुवचन)
tadāthen
tadā:
Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/adverbial)
TypeIndeclinable
Roottadā (अव्यय)
FormAdverb of time (कालवाचक क्रियाविशेषण अव्यय)
Unspecified in provided excerpt (didactic narration)

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

Yama
DharmaAfter-death imageryFear of wrongdoingYama

FAQs

The Purāṇa uses vivid imagery of Yama’s attendants to underscore moral causality: unethical living conditions the psyche to meet death with terror and coercion rather than calmness.

Ancillary didactic/eschatological material, not pancalakṣaṇa proper.

Yama’s ‘terrifying forms’ can be read as externalizations of one’s own unresolved karmic impressions; the mace symbolizes the force of karma that compels the jīva when discernment and merit are absent.