Shloka 7

Santaptaka’s Encounter with Five Pretas and Their Liberation through Viṣṇu’s Presence

Devanagari script

स ददर्श तदा गुल्मैर्वोरुद्वृक्षशतैश्चितम् / त्वक्सारैः शाखिशाखाभिः संकुलं गहनंवनम्

Transliteration

sa dadarśa tadā gulmairvorudvṛkṣaśataiścitam / tvaksāraiḥ śākhiśākhābhiḥ saṃkulaṃ gahanaṃvanam

Translation

ထိုအခါ သူသည် ချုံပုတ်များနှင့် သစ်ပင်ကြီးများ ရာချီဖြင့် ပြည့်နှက်ကာ၊ ကိုင်းခက်ကိုင်းငယ်များ ရောယှက်ထူထပ်ပြီး၊ အခေါက်ကြမ်းခက်သော သစ်ပင်များဖြင့် စည်ကားသည့် နက်ရှိုင်းသော တောအုပ်ကို မြင်လေသည်။

Word by Word

• सः: he
• सः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• ददर्श: saw
• ददर्श: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: दृश् (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect/परोक्षभूत), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• तदा: then
• तदा: Kala-adhikarana (Time/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तदा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; कालवाचक क्रियाविशेषण (then)

• गुल्मैः: with shrubs
• गुल्मैः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गुल्म (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), बहुवचन

• उरु-वृक्ष-शतैः: with hundreds of huge trees
• उरु-वृक्ष-शतैः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: उरु (प्रातिपदिक) + वृक्ष (प्रातिपदिक) + शत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), बहुवचन; समासः—उरवः वृक्षाः (great trees) तेषां शतानि; ‘by hundreds of huge trees’

• चितम्: filled, covered
• चितम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चित (चि धातु, क्त/कृदन्त)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन; ‘filled/covered’ (qualifying ‘वनम्’)

• त्वक्-सारैः: with barks
• त्वक्-सारैः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: त्वक् (प्रातिपदिक) + सार (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), बहुवचन; समासः—त्वचः साराः (barks/outer layers)

• शाखि-शाखाभिः: with tree-branches
• शाखि-शाखाभिः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शाखिन् (प्रातिपदिक) + शाखा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), बहुवचन; समासः—शाखिनां शाखाभिः (with branches of trees)

• संकुलम्: dense
• संकुलम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: संकुल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन; ‘dense/crowded’ (qualifying ‘वनम्’)

• गहनम्: impenetrable
• गहनम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: गहन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन; ‘deep, impenetrable’ (qualifying ‘वनम्’)

• वनम्: forest
• वनम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन

Speaker

Lord Vishnu (narrating to Garuda/Vinata-putra)

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Entanglement imagery mirrors bondage: the jīva, straying from the path, confronts the thicket of vāsanā/karma; liberation requires a clear way through confusion.

Vedantic Theme: Saṃsāra as a ‘forest’ of delusion; need for mārga (right path) and guide (guru/śāstra) to cross it.

Application: When life becomes ‘tangled’, simplify: return to core disciplines (satya, ahiṃsā, japa), seek counsel, and choose the clearest next right action rather than forcing through confusion.

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: bhayanaka

Secondary Rasa: adbhuta

Geographic Context

Type: forest/wilderness

Cross References

Related Themes: Garuda Purana narrative motifs of wandering and encountering fearful terrains (general)

Characters & Entities

• Preta

FAQs

What is the importance of the dense forest described in Garuda Purana?

It functions as an after-death waypoint on the preta’s route—an oppressive, tangled landscape that emphasizes difficulty and fear along the journey shaped by karma.

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

It depicts the traveler encountering harsh terrain: a deep, crowded forest with thorny/thick growth and hard-barked trees, illustrating that the preta’s passage is not smooth but filled with constricting obstacles.

Practical application of this wisdom today?

Live with restraint and dharma so the post-death journey is envisioned as lighter; support traditional śrāddha/pinda offerings with sincerity as acts of duty and remembrance.