Shloka 12

Karma, Varṇa-Dharma, and Dāna as the Soul’s True Companion on the Path to Yama

Devanagari script

दानं प्रदत्तं ग्रहणे द्विजेन्द्रे स्नानं कृतं तेन सदा सुतीर्थे / गत्वा गयायां पितृपिण्डदानं कृतं सदा यो म्रियते तु युद्धे

Transliteration

dānaṃ pradattaṃ grahaṇe dvijendre snānaṃ kṛtaṃ tena sadā sutīrthe / gatvā gayāyāṃ pitṛpiṇḍadānaṃ kṛtaṃ sadā yo mriyate tu yuddhe

Translation

ဂြိုဟ်ကွယ်ချိန်တွင် ဒွိဇေန္ဒြ (အထူးမြတ်သော ဗြာဟ္မဏ) ထံသို့ ဒါနပေးသူ၊ သန့်ရှင်းသော တီရ္ထ (su-tīrtha) တွင် အမြဲ ရေချိုးသူ၊ ဂယာသို့ သွားကာ ပိတೃတို့အတွက် ပိဏ္ဍ (ဆန်လုံး) ပူဇော်သူ—ထိုသူသည် စစ်ပွဲတွင် သေဆုံးလျှင် အမြင့်ဆုံးသော ကုသိုလ်ကို ရရှိသည်။

Word by Word

• dānam: gift/charity
• dānam: Karma (कर्म; with 'pradattam')
• Type: Noun
• Root: dāna (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Nominative/Accusative (1st/2nd), Singular (एकवचन)

• pradattam: given
• pradattam: Kriyā (क्रिया; predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra-√dā (धातु)
• Form: Past passive participle (क्त), Neuter, Nominative/Accusative Singular; agrees with 'dānam'

• grahaṇe: at an eclipse
• grahaṇe: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: grahaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Locative (7th/सप्तमी), Singular (एकवचन)

• dvijendre: in/for the best of Brahmins
• dvijendre: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dvija (प्रातिपदिक) + indra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Locative (7th/सप्तमी), Singular (एकवचन); 'dvijānām indraḥ' (best of Brahmins)

• snānam: bath
• snānam: Karma (कर्म; with 'kṛtam')
• Type: Noun
• Root: snāna (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Nominative/Accusative, Singular (एकवचन)

• kṛtam: done/performed
• kṛtam: Kriyā (क्रिया; predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √kṛ (धातु)
• Form: Past passive participle (क्त), Neuter, Nominative/Accusative Singular; agrees with 'snānam' (and later with 'pitṛpiṇḍadānam')

• tena: by him
• tena: Karta/Instrument (कर्ता/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Instrumental (3rd/तृतीया), Singular (एकवचन)

• sadā: always
• sadā: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: sadā (अव्यय)
• Form: Adverb (नित्यत्ववाचक-अव्यय)

• su-tīrthe: at a holy place
• su-tīrthe: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: su (उपसर्ग/अव्यय) + tīrtha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Locative (7th/सप्तमी), Singular; कर्मधारय—'śobhanaṃ tīrtham' (holy ford/place)

• gatvā: having gone
• gatvā: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण; prior action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √gam (धातु)
• Form: Absolutive/Gerund (क्त्वा), indeclinable verbal

• gayāyām: in Gayā
• gayāyām: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: gayā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine (स्त्रीलिङ्ग), Locative (7th/सप्तमी), Singular (एकवचन)

• pitṛ-piṇḍa-dānam: ancestor rice-ball offering
• pitṛ-piṇḍa-dānam: Karma (कर्म; with 'kṛtam')
• Type: Noun
• Root: pitṛ (प्रातिपदिक) + piṇḍa (प्रातिपदिक) + dāna (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Nominative/Accusative, Singular; तत्पुरुष—'pitṝṇāṃ piṇḍadānam' (offering rice-balls to ancestors)

• kṛtam: done
• kṛtam: Kriyā (क्रिया; predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √kṛ (धातु)
• Form: Past passive participle (क्त), Neuter, Nominative/Accusative Singular; agrees with 'pitṛpiṇḍadānam'

• sadā: always
• sadā: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: sadā (अव्यय)
• Form: Adverb (नित्यत्ववाचक-अव्यय)

• yaḥ: who
• yaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular; relative pronoun

• mriyate: dies
• mriyate: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √mṛ (धातु)
• Form: Present (लट्), 3rd person (प्रथमपुरुष), Singular (एकवचन), Ātmanepada (आत्मनेपद)

• tu: but/indeed
• tu: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: Particle (विरोध/विशेषार्थक-निपात)

• yuddhe: in battle
• yuddhe: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yuddha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Locative (7th/सप्तमी), Singular (एकवचन)

Speaker

Lord Vishnu (speaking to Garuda/Vainateya)

Shraddha Ritual

Ritual Type: Parvana

Beneficiary: Pitr

Timing: Grahaṇa-kāla (eclipse time) for dāna; Gayā pilgrimage occasion for piṇḍa-dāna; ongoing tīrtha-snāna as regular practice

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Merit is intensified by sacred timing (grahaṇa), sacred place (tīrtha, especially Gayā), and ancestral offerings; such accumulated puṇya elevates the fruit of a warrior’s death.

Vedantic Theme: Karma-phala hierarchy: deśa-kāla-pātra (place-time-recipient) refine the potency of acts; purification supports higher post-mortem destiny.

Application: Perform charity on sacred occasions with discernment; maintain tīrtha-snāna as a vow of purification; fulfill pitṛ obligations through śrāddha/piṇḍa-dāna, especially at renowned tīrthas.

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: shanta

Secondary Rasa: adbhuta

Geographic Context

Type: tirtha

Cross References

Related Themes: Garuda Purana sections praising Gayā-śrāddha and piṇḍa-dāna fruits; Garuda Purana instructions on parva-kāla (eclipse) dāna and tīrtha-snāna

Characters & Entities

• Pitris
• Brāhmaṇa (Dvija)

FAQs

What is the importance of piṇḍa-dāna at Gayā in the Garuda Purana?

This verse treats Gayā piṇḍa-dāna as a high-merit ancestral rite; performing it is presented as a powerful puṇya that supports auspicious outcomes even at the time of death.

How does this verse explain the soul’s path after death?

By emphasizing puṇya from dāna, tīrtha-snāna, and Pitṛ offerings, the verse implies that accumulated merit shapes the post-death journey toward favorable realms rather than distressful states described elsewhere in the Preta Kanda.

Practical application of this wisdom today?

Prioritize ethical generosity, perform ancestral remembrance/śrāddha when appropriate, and undertake pilgrimage or sacred bathing with sincerity—treating these as disciplines that cultivate responsibility to society and lineage.