Garuda Purana — Preta Kalpa, Shloka 85

Vṛṣotsarga (Bull-Release Gift): Procedure, Merit, and Narratives on Dharma, Karma, and Liberation

Devanagari script

नारदो ऽकथयन्मह्यं स्ववृत्तगतजन्मनः / नारद उवाच / कस्यचिद्द्विजमुख्यस्य दासीपुत्त्रः पुरा मुने

Transliteration

nārado 'kathayanmahyaṃ svavṛttagatajanmanaḥ / nārada uvāca / kasyaciddvijamukhyasya dāsīputtraḥ purā mune

Translation

နာရဒသည် တစ်ခါက မိမိ၏ အပြုအမူကြောင့် ဖြစ်ပေါ်လာသော မွေးဖွားခြင်းအကြောင်းကို ငါ့အား ပြောပြခဲ့သည်။ နာရဒက ဆိုသည်—“အို မုနိ၊ ရှေးကာလတစ်ခါတွင် ထင်ရှားသော ဗြာဟ္မဏတစ်ဦးနှင့် ဆက်နွယ်သော အလုပ်သမားမိန်းမ၏ သားတစ်ယောက် ရှိခဲ့၏။”

Word by Word

• नारदः: Narada
• नारदः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नारद (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• अकथयत्: told, narrated
• अकथयत्: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: कथ् (धातु)
• Form: लङ्-लकार (Imperfect/Past), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• मह्यम्: to me
• मह्यम्: Sampradana (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: चतुर्थी-विभक्ति (सम्प्रदान), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• स्व-वृत्त-गत-जन्मनः: of (one) whose birth was connected with his own past conduct
• स्व-वृत्त-गत-जन्मनः: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठीसम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्व (प्रातिपदिक) + वृत्त (प्रातिपदिक) + गत (कृदन्त; √गम्) + जन्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग (जन्मन्), षष्ठी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; बहुपद-तत्पुरुष (स्ववृत्ते गतं जन्म यस्य/स्ववृत्तगतं जन्म)

• नारदः: Narada
• नारदः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नारद (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; वक्तृ-निर्देश (उवाच इत्यस्य कर्ता)

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

• कस्यचित्: of a certain
• कस्यचित्: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठीसम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: क (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; अनिश्चित-सर्वनाम (indefinite pronoun)

• द्विज-मुख्यस्य: of a foremost Brahmin
• द्विज-मुख्यस्य: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठीसम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: द्विज (प्रातिपदिक) + मुख्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; कर्मधारय (मुख्यः द्विजः)

• दासी-पुत्त्रः: son of a maidservant
• दासी-पुत्त्रः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दासी (प्रातिपदिक) + पुत्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (दास्याः पुत्रः)

• पुरा: formerly, once
• पुरा: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पुरा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb), कालवाचक

• मुने: O sage
• मुने: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मुनि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन-विभक्ति, एकवचन

Speaker

Narada (as indicated by “नारद उवाच”)

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: One’s birth and life-situation are connected to conduct (vṛtta/karma); the narrative will illustrate transformation despite humble origins.

Vedantic Theme: Karma-vāsanā shaping embodiment; possibility of uplift through saṃskāra and satsanga beyond jāti-based limitations.

Application: Do not fatalistically identify with origin; focus on present conduct and seek elevating influences that reshape destiny.

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: adbhuta

Secondary Rasa: shanta

Cross References

Related Themes: Garuda Purana 2.6.86 (training and mahat-saṅga); Garuda Purana 2.6.84 (itihāsa promised for conviction)

Characters & Entities

• Narada
• Dvija (Brahmin)
• Dasi (maidservant)

FAQs

What is the importance of karma (conduct) in this Garuda Purana verse?

The verse explicitly links “birth” to “one’s own conduct” (svavṛtta-gata-janma), setting up a teaching that actions and choices shape future circumstances and embodiment.

How does this verse relate to the soul’s journey after death in the Garuda Purana?

By introducing a karmic backstory about birth, it frames the broader Preta Kanda theme: the post-death journey and experiences are conditioned by prior deeds, which also determine rebirth and status.

Practical application of this wisdom today?

Treat ethical conduct as spiritually consequential: personal choices shape future outcomes, so cultivate dharma—truthfulness, restraint, and responsibility—rather than relying on status or birth alone.