Shloka 23

Ratna-parīkṣā: Vajra (Diamond/Thunderbolt) — Origin, Types, Testing, Defects, Weights, and Royal Auspiciousness

Devanagari script

द्वौ वज्रवर्णौ पृथिवीपतीनां सद्भिः प्रदिष्टौ न तु सार्वजन्यौ / यः स्याज्जवाविद्रुमभङ्गशोणो यो वा हरिद्रारसन्निकाशः

Transliteration

dvau vajravarṇau pṛthivīpatīnāṃ sadbhiḥ pradiṣṭau na tu sārvajanyau / yaḥ syājjavāvidrumabhaṅgaśoṇo yo vā haridrārasannikāśaḥ

Translation

သီလရှိသူတို့က မင်းတို့အတွက်သာ “ဝဇ္ရကဲ့သို့ ထူးမြတ်သော” အရောင်နှစ်မျိုးကို သတ်မှတ်ထားကြသည်—လူတိုင်းအတွက် မဟုတ်။ တစ်မျိုးမှာ ဇဝါပန်း (hibiscus) ကဲ့သို့ သို့မဟုတ် ကော်ရယ်ကျောက်ကွဲ၏ နီရောင်ကဲ့သို့ နီမြန်းသောအရောင်၊ နောက်တစ်မျိုးမှာ နနွင်းရည်၏ အရောင်ကဲ့သို့ ဖြစ်သည်။

Word by Word

• dvau: two
• dvau: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dvi (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), द्विवचन; संख्याविशेषण

• vajra-varṇau: two ‘vajra’ colors (special hues)
• vajra-varṇau: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vajra + varṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), द्विवचन

• pṛthivī-patīnām: of kings (lords of the earth)
• pṛthivī-patīnām: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pṛthivī + pati (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन

• sadbhiḥ: by the good/wise
• sadbhiḥ: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sat (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति (3rd/Instrumental), बहुवचन

• pradiṣṭau: prescribed/assigned
• pradiṣṭau: Karta/Predicate (predicate participle)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra + diś (दिश् धातु)
• Form: कृदन्त—भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (Past Passive Participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, द्विवचन; ‘designated/assigned’

• na: not
• na: Sambandha (Negation marker)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध-अव्यय (negation particle)

• tu: but
• tu: Discourse particle
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय/विरोध-अव्यय (adversative particle)

• sārvajanyau: universal/common to all
• sārvajanyau: Karta/Predicate adjective (कर्तृ-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sārvajanya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, द्विवचन; विशेषण

• yaḥ: which/that (one)
• yaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; सम्बन्धसूचक सर्वनाम

• syāt: should be
• syāt: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: as (अस् धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन

• javā-vidruma-bhaṅga-śoṇaḥ: red like hibiscus and broken coral
• javā-vidruma-bhaṅga-śoṇaḥ: Karta/Predicate adjective (कर्तृ-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: javā + vidruma + bhaṅga + śoṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषण

• yaḥ: which/that (one)
• yaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• vā: or
• vā: Discourse particle
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vā (अव्यय)
• Form: विकल्प-अव्यय (disjunctive particle)

• haridrā-rasa-sannikāśaḥ: resembling turmeric-juice
• haridrā-rasa-sannikāśaḥ: Karta/Predicate adjective (कर्तृ-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: haridrā + rasa + sannikāśa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषण

Speaker

Lord Vishnu (in dialogue instruction to Garuda/Vinata-putra, Achara Kanda context)

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Kingship has prescribed exemplary (‘vajra’) complexions/marks; standards are role-specific, not universal.

Vedantic Theme: Svadharma and role-appropriateness (adhikāra-bheda) within the empirical order; excellence is contextual to function.

Application: Apply the principle of role-appropriate standards: leadership requires distinct disciplines and public-facing ideals; avoid imitating roles without qualification.

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: shanta

Secondary Rasa: adbhuta

Cross References

Related Themes: Garuda Purana 1.68.22 (varna hues); Garuda Purana 1.68.24 (king’s special prerogative)

FAQs

What is the importance of ‘vajra-varṇa’ (excellent complexion) in the Garuda Purana?

This verse treats complexion as an auspicious indicator in royal physiognomy: it states that certain luminous hues are traditionally commended for kings as signs of strength, prosperity, and fitness to rule.

How does this verse explain the path of the soul in the Garuda Purana?

It does not address the soul’s post-death journey here; rather, it belongs to the Achara Kanda’s discussion of worldly dharma—especially signs and qualities associated with rulership and auspiciousness.

Practical application of this wisdom today?

Read it as a symbolic teaching: leadership is expected to embody visible vitality and steadiness; cultivate health, discipline, and ethical conduct as the ‘marks’ of fitness for responsibility.