Shloka 19

Varṇāśrama Dharma, Ethical Virtues, and Aṣṭāṅga-Yoga Culminating in ‘Ahaṃ Brahma’

Devanagari script

प्रथमा भावना पूर्वे मोक्षे त्वक्ष(दुष्क) रभावना / तृतीये चान्तिमा प्रोक्ता भावना पारमेश्वरी

Transliteration

prathamā bhāvanā pūrve mokṣe tvakṣa(duṣka) rabhāvanā / tṛtīye cāntimā proktā bhāvanā pārameśvarī

Translation

ပထမ ဘာဝနာ (စိတ်တည်စေခြင်း) ကို မောက္ခနှင့် ဆက်စပ်၍ အရင်က သင်ကြားထားသည်။ ဒုတိယ ဘာဝနာမှာ ခက်ခဲသော (သို့) ခက်ခဲမှုကို ဖယ်ရှားပေးသော ဘာဝနာ ဖြစ်သည်။ တတိယတွင် အဆုံးသတ် ဘာဝနာကို ကြေညာသည်—အမြင့်မြတ်၍ သဗ္ဗဣශ්ဝရီ (ပာရမေရှဝရီ) ဘာဝနာ ဖြစ်သည်။

Word by Word

• प्रथमा: the first
• प्रथमा: Visheshana (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्रथम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st), एकवचन; क्रमवाचक (first)

• भावना: contemplation
• भावना: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भावना (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st), एकवचन; भाववाचक-नाम (contemplation/mental cultivation)

• पूर्वे: in the first (stage)
• पूर्वे: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पूर्व (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (7th), एकवचन; अधिकरण (in the former/first [stage])

• मोक्षे: in liberation
• मोक्षे: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मोक्ष (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (7th), एकवचन; अधिकरण (in liberation)

• तु: but
• तु: Sambandha (Discourse particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु (अव्यय)
• Form: विरोध/विशेषार्थक-अव्यय (particle: but/indeed)

• अक्ष(दुष्क)रभावना: contemplation on the imperishable (or difficult contemplation)
• अक्ष(दुष्क)रभावना: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अक्षर (प्रातिपदिक) / (पाठान्तर-सूचित: दुश्कर) + भावना (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समास; पाठभेद-समस्या: ‘अक्षर-भावना’ (contemplation on the imperishable syllable/Brahman) अथवा ‘दुष्कर-भावना’ (difficult contemplation)

• तृतीये: in the third (stage)
• तृतीये: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तृतीय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (7th), एकवचन; अधिकरण (in the third [stage])

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक-अव्यय (conjunction)

• अन्तिमा: final
• अन्तिमा: Visheshana (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अन्तिम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st), एकवचन; विशेषण (final)

• प्रोक्ता: is declared
• प्रोक्ता: Pradhana-kriya-puraka (Predicate participle)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √वच् (धातु, वचने) + प्र (उपसर्ग) + क्त → प्रोक्त (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st), एकवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (declared/said)

• भावना: contemplation
• भावना: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भावना (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st), एकवचन

• पारमेश्वरी: supreme / of Parameśvara
• पारमेश्वरी: Visheshana (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पारमेश्वरी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st), एकवचन; विशेषण (belonging to Parameśvara/supreme)

Speaker

Lord Vishnu (speaking to Garuda/Vinatā-putra)

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: A graded scheme of three bhāvanās (contemplative practices): an initial contemplation taught earlier, a second that is difficult/overcomes difficulty, and a third final ‘pārameśvarī’ contemplation—supreme and divine.

Vedantic Theme: Progression from conceptual meditation to mature absorption; movement toward Īśvara/Paramātman-centered contemplation culminating in liberating insight or steadfast realization.

Application: Use a staged meditation plan: begin with foundational contemplation (ethics, impermanence, self-inquiry), proceed to sustained practice through obstacles, and mature into single-pointed God/Self-centered absorption.

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: adbhuta

Secondary Rasa: shanta

Cross References

Related Themes: Garuda Purana 1.49 (sequence of yoga/saṃnyāsa teachings; ‘earlier’ bhāvanā allusion)

Characters & Entities

• Paramēśvara (Supreme Lord)
• Moksha

FAQs

What is the importance of bhāvanā in the Garuda Purana?

This verse frames bhāvanā (cultivated contemplation) as a graded teaching culminating in a supreme, divine contemplation, indicating it as a structured method leading toward mokṣa.

How does this verse explain the path of the soul?

Rather than describing post-death geography, it highlights inner preparation: progressive contemplations are taught, with the earlier linked to liberation and the final declared as the highest, implying spiritual refinement as the route to freedom.

Practical application of this wisdom today?

Adopt a step-by-step practice: begin with foundational contemplation aimed at detachment and liberation, then deepen into more demanding inner disciplines, keeping the highest aim as God-centered (pārameśvarī) contemplation.