Shloka 36

Brahmāṇḍa-Āvaraṇa Nirūpaṇa, Virajā-Setu, and Prākṛta–Vaikṛta Sṛṣṭi

Devanagari script

गरुड उवाच / पञ्चाशीतिब्रह्मकल्पं समारभ्य महाप्रभो / रुद्रस्याप्यापरोक्ष्यं स्यात्तथा प्रारब्धसंक्षयः

Transliteration

garuḍa uvāca / pañcāśītibrahmakalpaṃ samārabhya mahāprabho / rudrasyāpyāparokṣyaṃ syāttathā prārabdhasaṃkṣayaḥ

Translation

ဂရုဍာက ဆိုသည်—အို မဟာအရှင်၊ ဗြဟ္မာ-ကလ္ပ ၈၅ မှစ၍ ရုဒြာအတွက်တောင် တိုက်ရိုက်သိမြင်ခြင်း (အပရောက္ခ-ဉာဏ်) ဖြစ်ပေါ်နိုင်ပြီး၊ ထိုနည်းတူ စတင်ပြီးသား ကမ္မ (ပရာရဗ္ဓ) ၏ အင်အားလည်း ကုန်ခမ်းသွားသည်။

Word by Word

• गरुडः: Garuḍa
• गरुडः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गरुड (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• उवाच: said
• उवाच: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच् (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन

• पञ्चाशीतिब्रह्मकल्पम्: the eighty-fifth Brahmā-kalpa
• पञ्चाशीतिब्रह्मकल्पम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पञ्चाशीतिः + ब्रह्मकल्प (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (पञ्चाशीत्या ब्रह्मकल्पः)

• समारभ्य: having begun/starting from
• समारभ्य: Kriya-viseshana (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सम्-आ-रभ् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त अव्यय (Gerund/Absolutive)

• महाप्रभो: O great lord
• महाप्रभो: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महाप्रभु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (Vocative), एकवचन; कर्मधारयः (महान् प्रभुः)

• रुद्रस्य: of Rudra
• रुद्रस्य: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: रुद्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन

• अपि: also/even
• अपि: Sambandha-bodhaka (सम्बन्ध/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle)

• अपरोक्ष्यम्: direct realization (immediate knowledge)
• अपरोक्ष्यम्: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अपरोक्ष (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• स्यात्: may be/would occur
• स्यात्: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: अस् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन

• तथा: thus/likewise
• तथा: Kriya-viseshana (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा (अव्यय)
• Form: क्रियाविशेषण (adverb)

• प्रारब्धसंक्षयः: the exhaustion of prārabdha (karma)
• प्रारब्धसंक्षयः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रारब्ध + संक्षय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (प्रारब्धस्य संक्षयः)

Speaker

Garuḍa (Vinata-putra)

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Beginning from a specified Brahmā-kalpa (85th), aparokṣa-jñāna and prārabdha-kṣaya are stated as possible even for Rudra—emphasizing eligibility and cosmic sequencing.

Vedantic Theme: Aparokṣa as liberating knowledge; prārabdha’s persistence until exhaustion; Purāṇic kalpa-numbering as a narrative device for gradation of adhikāra.

Application: Ask precise questions in spiritual study; track one’s own ‘stages’ (adhikāra) without anxiety—focus on the means (sādhana) rather than speculative timelines.

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: adbhuta

Secondary Rasa: shanta

Cross References

Related Themes: Garuda Purana 3.10.33 (Rudra/41st kalpa), 3.10.37 (doubt)

Characters & Entities

• Brahma (via Brahma-kalpa)
• Rudra (Shiva)

FAQs

What is the importance of prārabdha (already-begun karma) in Garuda Purana?

This verse highlights that prārabdha is a distinct portion of karma that has already started giving results, and it is understood to end through exhaustion (saṃkṣaya) rather than being merely wished away—linking liberation-teachings with karma theory.

How does this verse explain the path of the soul toward liberation?

By pairing aparokṣa (direct realization) with prārabdha-saṃkṣaya, the verse implies that realization is possible even for exalted beings like Rudra, while the momentum of embodied experience continues only until the already-initiated karmic stream is spent.

Practical application of this wisdom today?

Focus on steady spiritual practice and ethical living: cultivate clarity (jnana) while patiently enduring unavoidable life-results as prārabdha, without creating fresh harmful karma through reactive choices.