Padma Purana — Bhumi Khanda, Shloka 150
Pitṛmātṛtīrtha Greatness & the Discourse on Embodiment: Karma, Birth, Impurity, and Dispassion
कृषिवाणिज्यसेवाद्य गोरक्षादि परश्रमैः । प्रातर्मूत्रपुरीषाभ्यां मध्याह्ने क्षुत्पिपासया
kṛṣivāṇijyasevādya gorakṣādi paraśramaiḥ | prātarmūtrapurīṣābhyāṃ madhyāhne kṣutpipāsayā
കൃഷി, വാണിജ്യം, സേവനം മുതലായവയും ഗോരക്ഷണം പോലുള്ള കഠിനശ്രമങ്ങളും മൂലം—പ്രഭാതത്തിൽ മൂത്ര-മലവിസർജനത്താൽ, മധ്യാഹ്നത്തിൽ വിശപ്പ്-ദാഹത്താൽ (ജീവൻ ക്ലേശിക്കുന്നു).
Unspecified (context not provided for dialogue attribution)
Concept: Worldly life is dominated by exhausting labor and unavoidable bodily demands; recognizing this reduces pride and redirects one toward higher purpose.
Application: Practice humility; schedule spiritual practice amid work; simplify desires; treat livelihood as duty, not identity.
Primary Rasa: karuna
Secondary Rasa: bibhatsa
Visual Art Cues: {"scene_description":"A panoramic day-in-the-life tableau: farmers bent over fields, a merchant weighing goods, a servant carrying loads, and a cowherd guiding cattle—each figure shown with sweat and dust. In the foreground, a symbolic clock of the body: morning’s water-pot and latrine path, midday’s empty bowl and parched lips, illustrating the relentless cycle of need.","primary_figures":["farmers","merchant","servant","cowherd","cattle"],"setting":"rural-urban edge with fields, a small market stall, and a dusty path leading to a riverless well","lighting_mood":"golden dawn","color_palette":["dusty sienna","sun-bleached yellow","indigo cloth-blue","earth brown","white chalk"],"tanjore_prompt":"Tanjore painting style: multi-figure narrative panel of agrarian and mercantile toil; ornate borders; gold leaf used sparingly to highlight the sun and a small distant Vishnu temple spire, implying the spiritual horizon beyond labor; rich reds/greens in garments, detailed jewelry on the merchant, textured field patterns.","pahari_prompt":"Pahari miniature style: detailed genre scene with delicate brushwork—fields, market, cattle trail; expressive faces showing fatigue; soft atmospheric perspective; muted earth tones with bright textile accents; a tiny shrine under a tree as a devotional anchor.","kerala_mural_prompt":"Kerala mural style: stylized laborers in rhythmic poses; bold outlines; symbolic icons for morning and midday afflictions; warm yellow-red dominance with green accents for cattle and fields; temple-wall composition symmetry.","pichwai_prompt":"Pichwai cloth painting style: circular mandala of daily toil around a central lotus containing a small Krishna/Vishnu emblem; ornate floral borders; cows prominently rendered; deep blue and gold highlights; intricate textile patterns on clothing and market goods."}
Audio Atmosphere: {"recitation_mood":"narrative","suggested_raga":"Bhupali","pace":"moderate-narrative","voice_tone":"authoritative","sound_elements":["cattle bells","market murmur","footsteps on dust","distant conch shell"]}
Sandhi Resolution Notes: सेवाद्य = सेवा + आद्य(=आदि); गोरक्षादि = गो + रक्षा + आदि; मूत्रपुरीषाभ्यां = मूत्र + पुरीषाभ्यां; क्षुत्पिपासया = क्षुत् + पिपासया. (पादे क्रिया/सम्बन्धः पूर्व/परश्लोक-सापेक्षः)
FAQs
It highlights the embodied human condition: worldly livelihoods require heavy toil, and daily life is repeatedly pressed by bodily needs like elimination, hunger, and thirst.
They represent common, labor-intensive livelihood paths, used here as examples of strenuous worldly effort (paraśrama) that occupies ordinary life.
The verse implicitly underscores the limitations of worldly life—its dependence on the body and its compulsions—often used in Purāṇic teaching to encourage detachment and higher aims beyond mere subsistence.