Garuda Purana — Preta Kalpa, Shloka 23

Vṛṣotsarga as Prerequisite for Śrāddha: Eligibility, Timing, Purification, and the Urgency of Dharma

Devanagari script

जीवतो ऽपि मृतस्येह न भूतं चौर्ध्वदैहिकम् / वायुभूतः क्षुधाविष्टो भ्रमते च दिवानिशम्

Transliteration

jīvato 'pi mṛtasyeha na bhūtaṃ caurdhvadaihikam / vāyubhūtaḥ kṣudhāviṣṭo bhramate ca divāniśam

Translation

ဤလောက၌ အသက်ရှင်နေစဉ်လည်း၊ သေပြီးနောက်လည်း၊ သတ္တဝါသည် သေပြီးနောက်ရသင့်သော ဥရ္ဓ္ဝဒေဟ (ūrdhva-deha) ကို မရနိုင်။ လေကဲ့သို့ ဖြစ်ကာ ဆာလောင်မှုက ဖမ်းဆီးထားသဖြင့် နေ့ည မပြတ် လှည့်လည်နေသည်။

Word by Word

• जीवतः: of a living (person)
• जीवतः: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: जीवत् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन; विशेषण

• अपि: even, also
• अपि: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि (अव्यय)
• Form: सम्भावना/अपवादार्थक निपात (particle: 'even/also')

• मृतस्य: of a dead (person)
• मृतस्य: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मृत (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (PPP of √मृ), पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन; विशेषण

• इह: here
• इह: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इह (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक-अव्यय (adverb: 'here/in this world')

• न: not
• न: Sambandha (Negation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध-निपात (negation)

• भूतम्: a being/ghost (bhūta)
• भूतम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भूत (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (PPP of √भू), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय-अव्यय (conjunction)

• और्ध्वदैहिकम्: pertaining to post-death rites (ūrdhvadaihika)
• और्ध्वदैहिकम्: Visheshana (Adjectival modifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ऊर्ध्व (प्रातिपदिक) + दैहिक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष (determinative: 'pertaining to the after-body/after-death rites')

• वायुभूतः: having become wind-like
• वायुभूतः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वायु (प्रातिपदिक) + भूत (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष ('become air/wind-like'); भूत = PPP of √भू

• क्षुधाविष्टः: afflicted by hunger
• क्षुधाविष्टः: Visheshana (Adjectival modifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: क्षुधा (प्रातिपदिक) + आविष्ट (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष ('possessed by hunger'); आविष्ट = PPP of आ + विश्

• भ्रमते: wanders
• भ्रमते: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: भ्रम् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; आत्मनेपद

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय-अव्यय (conjunction)

• दिवानिशम्: day and night
• दिवानिशम्: Kala-adhikarana (Time/काल-अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: दिवा (अव्यय) + निशा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययीभाव-समास; अव्ययवत् प्रयोग (adverbial: 'day and night')

Speaker

Lord Vishnu (in dialogue with Garuda/Vinata-putra)

Pretakalpa Layer

Afterlife Stage: Pretayoni

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Neglect of dharma/rites can result in an unsettled condition: the being becomes vāyu-bhūta (wind-like), afflicted by hunger, wandering day and night without attaining the proper post-death embodiment.

Vedantic Theme: Consequences of adharma and ritual-neglect on the subtle body’s trajectory; the importance of samskara for orderly transition.

Application: Live dharmically and ensure proper end-of-life rites and family instruction; support communal systems that prevent ‘unperformed rites’ (anathapreta) situations.

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: bhayanaka

Secondary Rasa: karuna

Cross References

Related Themes: Garuda Purana Pretakalpa: descriptions of preta as hungry, wandering; emphasis on śrāddha/pinda as relief and on attaining a stable post-death state (general parallel).

Characters & Entities

• Pretas
• Departed soul (preta)

FAQs

What is the importance of ūrdhva-dehika (post-death rites) in the Garuda Purana?

This verse links the lack of a proper post-death condition with restless wandering and hunger, implying that prescribed rites support an orderly transition and relief for the departed.

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

It describes a distressed intermediate condition—wind-like, hungry, and roaming day and night—indicating an unsettled preta state rather than a stable onward journey.

Practical application of this wisdom today?

Perform or arrange appropriate funeral and śrāddha-related observances with sincerity, and live responsibly so one’s end-of-life and post-death transition is not marked by unrest and deprivation.