Garuda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 5

Anupāna and the Doṣa-Effects of Foods, Waters, Dairy, Oils, and Preparations

Devanagari script

कफपित्तास्त्रजिन्मुद्गः कषायो मधुरोलघुः / माषो बहुबलो वृष्यः पित्तश्लेष्महरो गुरुः

Transliteration

kaphapittāstrajinmudgaḥ kaṣāyo madhurolaghuḥ / māṣo bahubalo vṛṣyaḥ pittaśleṣmaharo guruḥ

Translation

မုဒ္ဂ (ပဲစိမ်း) သည် ကဖ၊ ပိတ္တ နှင့် သွေးဆိုင်ရာရောဂါများကို လျော့စေပြီး ချဉ်တင်းတင်း (ကဿာယ) အရသာ၊ အနည်းငယ်ချို၍ အစာချေလွယ်သည်။ မာဿ (ပဲမဲ) သည် အားတိုးစေ၍ ကာမအားပေးကာ ပိတ္တနှင့် ချွဲကို လျော့စေသော်လည်း အစာချေခက်သည်။

Word by Word

• कफपित्तास्त्रजित्: conquering kapha, pitta, and ‘astra’ (sharp/irritant factor)
• कफपित्तास्त्रजित्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कफ + पित्त + अस्त्र + जि (धातु) → जित् (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुष (कफ-पित्त-अस्त्राणि जयति इति); कृदन्तः—जि-धातोः ‘जित्’

• मुद्गः: mung bean (green gram)
• मुद्गः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मुद्ग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• कषायः: astringent
• कषायः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कषाय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; विशेषणम्

• मधुरः: sweet
• मधुरः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मधुर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; विशेषणम्

• लघुः: light (easy to digest)
• लघुः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: लघु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; विशेषणम्

• माषः: black gram
• माषः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: माष (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• बहुबलः: very strengthening
• बहुबलः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: बहु + बल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; समासः—कर्मधारय (बहु-बलः)

• वृष्यः: aphrodisiac
• वृष्यः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वृष्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; विशेषणम्

• पित्तश्लेष्महरः: remover of bile and phlegm
• पित्तश्लेष्महरः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पित्त + श्लेष्म + हृ (धातु) → हर (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुष (पित्तश्लेष्मयोः हरः)

• गुरुः: heavy
• गुरुः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: गुरु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; विशेषणम्

Speaker

Lord Vishnu (speaking to Garuda/Vinata-putra)

Medical Ayurveda

Dosha: Vata/Pitta/Kapha

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Different legumes serve different aims: mudga for lightness and doṣa/blood disorder relief; māṣa for बल (strength) and vṛṣyatva though guru.

Vedantic Theme: Middle path of maintenance: neither indulgence nor deprivation; choose means suited to one’s condition.

Application: Prefer mudga in convalescence, heat/inflammation, kapha-pitta imbalance, or when digestion is weak; use māṣa for rebuilding strength and vitality, prepared to aid digestion (spices, proper cooking) and avoid in weak agni.

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: shanta

Cross References

Related Themes: Garuda Purana 1.169 (legume guṇas; continuation into other pulses)

Characters & Entities

• Vishnu
• Garuda

FAQs

What is the importance of dietary guidance in the Garuda Purana?

This verse shows that the Garuda Purana also preserves practical dharma through health-focused guidance, describing foods by their effects on doshas and digestion.

How does this verse explain the path of the soul?

Indirectly: by prescribing balanced, digestible foods, it supports bodily steadiness and clarity, which are treated as aids to dharmic living and spiritual discipline.

Practical application of this wisdom today?

Use mudga when seeking lighter digestion and kapha-pitta balance; use māṣa for strength-building but with care if heavy foods aggravate you.