Shloka 111

Purusha-Strī-Lakṣaṇa (Samudrika-śāstra): Marks of Kingship, Wealth, Longevity, and Conduct

Devanagari script

स्वल्पायुषो बहु (लघु) च्छिन्ना दीर्घाछिन्ना महायुषम् / शुभं तु लक्षणं स्त्रीणां प्रोक्तं त्वशुभमन्यथा

Transliteration

svalpāyuṣo bahu (laghu) cchinnā dīrghāchinnā mahāyuṣam / śubhaṃ tu lakṣaṇaṃ strīṇāṃ proktaṃ tvaśubhamanyathā

Translation

မိန်းမတစ်ဦး၏ မျဉ်းများသည် တို၍ များပြားခြင်း သို့မဟုတ် ပြတ်တောက်ခြင်းရှိလျှင် အသက်တိုသည်ဟု ဆိုကြသည်။ မျဉ်းများ ရှည်၍ မပြတ်တောက်လျှင် အသက်ရှည်သည်ဟု ဆိုကြသည်။ ဤအရာတို့ကို မိန်းမတို့အတွက် မင်္ဂလာလက္ခဏာဟု ကြေညာထားပြီး၊ အခြားသို့ဖြစ်လျှင် အမင်္ဂလာဟု ဆိုသည်။

Word by Word

• स्वल्प-आयुषः: short-lived
• स्वल्प-आयुषः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स्वल्प (प्रातिपदिक) + आयुस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; ‘अल्पायुषः’ (सम्बन्धः रेखाः इत्यस्य)

• बहु: much / greatly
• बहु: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: बहु (प्रातिपदिक/अव्ययवत्)
• Form: अव्यय-प्रयोगः (adverb) ‘बहुधा/बहुशः’

• लघु: lightly / quickly (variant reading)
• लघु: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: लघु (प्रातिपदिक/अव्ययवत्)
• Form: पाठान्तर-शब्दः; अव्यय-प्रयोगः (adverb) ‘शीघ्रम्/लघुतया’

• छिन्नाः: broken / cut
• छिन्नाः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: छिद् (धातु) → छिन्न (कृदन्त)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त; रेखाः इत्यस्य विशेषणम्

• दीर्घा-छिन्नाः: long yet broken (lines)
• दीर्घा-छिन्नाः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दीर्घ (प्रातिपदिक) + छिद् (धातु) → छिन्न (कृदन्त)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; ‘दीर्घाः (सन्ति) छिन्नाः’ इति कर्मधारयः; रेखाः इत्यस्य विशेषणम्

• महā-आयुषम्: great longevity
• महā-आयुषम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महā (प्रातिपदिक) + आयुस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन

• शुभम्: auspicious
• शुभम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शुभ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; लक्षणम् इत्यस्य विशेषणम्

• तु: but / indeed
• तु: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्ययम् (particle; contrast/emphasis)

• लक्षणम्: sign / mark
• लक्षणम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: लक्षण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• स्त्रीणाम्: of women
• स्त्रीणाम्: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्त्री (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), बहुवचन

• प्रोक्तम्: is said / has been stated
• प्रोक्तम्: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया-विशेष)
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र + वच् (धातु) → उक्त (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकालिक-कृदन्त (क्त), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; कर्मणि भावः ‘कथितम्’

• तु: but
• तु: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्ययम् (particle)

• अशुभम्: inauspicious
• अशुभम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अ-शुभ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; (लक्षणम् इत्यस्य) विशेषणम्

• अन्यथा: otherwise
• अन्यथा: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अन्यथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्ययम् (adverb)

Speaker

Lord Vishnu (in discourse to Garuda/Vainateya)

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Auspiciousness (śubha) and inauspiciousness (aśubha) are inferred from bodily signs, implying karmic causality for lifespan.

Vedantic Theme: Embodiment as a field where karma’s residues appear as lakṣaṇa; encourages reflection on impermanence and ethical living.

Application: If used, interpret as cultural symbolism; prioritize wellbeing and supportive choices rather than stigma based on ‘marks’.

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: bhayanaka

Secondary Rasa: shanta

Cross References

Related Themes: Garuda Purana 1.65.110-112 (women’s marks; auspicious vs inauspicious indicators)

FAQs

What is the importance of lakṣaṇa (auspicious marks) in the Garuda Purana?

This verse treats bodily/line-based lakṣaṇas as traditional indicators of fortune and lifespan, classifying certain patterns as śubha (auspicious) and others as aśubha (inauspicious).

How does this verse explain the path of the soul after death?

It does not directly describe the soul’s post-death journey; instead, it gives pre-death indicators (lakṣaṇas) connected with longevity, which in the broader Garuda Purana context relates to the timing of death and subsequent rites.

Practical application of this wisdom today?

Use it as a cultural-textual reference rather than deterministic fate: focus on dharma, health, and right conduct, and treat “auspicious/inauspicious marks” as part of traditional belief literature.