Padma Purana — Bhumi Khanda, Shloka 8

Karmic Causality, Fate, and the Supremacy of Food-Charity

within Guru-tīrtha Glorification

Devanagari script

कर्म एव प्रधानं यद्वर्षारूपेण वर्त्तते । क्षेत्रेषु यादृशं बीजं वपते कृषिकारकः

Transliteration

karma eva pradhānaṃ yadvarṣārūpeṇa varttate | kṣetreṣu yādṛśaṃ bījaṃ vapate kṛṣikārakaḥ

Translation

ကမ္မသာ အဓိကဖြစ်၍ မိုးကဲ့သို့ အကျိုးရလဒ်အဖြစ် လည်ပတ်နေသည်။ လယ်ကွင်းတွင် လယ်သမားက မည်သည့်မျိုးစေ့ကို မျိုးချသနည်း၊ ထိုအတိုင်းပင် ပေါက်ဖွားလာသည်။

Word by Word

• कर्म: action
• कर्म: Karta (Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कर्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया विभक्ति, एकवचन (Neuter, Nominative/Accusative, Singular)

• एव: indeed
• एव: Sambandha (Emphasis)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव (अव्यय)
• Form: अवधारणार्थक निपात (Emphatic particle)

• प्रधानम्: primary/chief
• प्रधानम्: Karta-samānādhikaraṇa (Predicate adjective)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्रधान (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया विभक्ति, एकवचन (Neuter, Nominative/Accusative, Singular)

• यत्: which/that (relative)
• यत्: Karta (Subject of subordinate clause)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया विभक्ति, एकवचन (Neuter relative pronoun, Nom/Acc, Singular)

• वर्षारूपेण: in the form of rain
• वर्षारूपेण: Karaṇa (Instrument/Mode)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वर्षा+रूप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया विभक्ति, एकवचन (Neuter, Instrumental, Singular); समासः षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (वर्षायाः रूपम्)

• वर्त्तते: exists/operates/continues
• वर्त्तते: Kriyā (Predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वृत् (धातु)
• Form: लट् लकार, आत्मनेपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन (Present, Ātmanepada, 3rd person, Singular)

• क्षेत्रेषु: in fields
• क्षेत्रेषु: Adhikaraṇa (Location)
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्षेत्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी विभक्ति, बहुवचन (Neuter, Locative, Plural)

• यादृशम्: of whatever kind
• यादृशम्: Karma-samānādhikaraṇa (Object complement)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: यादृश (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया विभक्ति, एकवचन (Neuter, Nom/Acc, Singular)

• बीजम्: seed
• बीजम्: Karma (Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: बीज (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया विभक्ति, एकवचन (Neuter, Accusative, Singular)

• वपते: sows
• वपते: Kriyā (Predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वप् (धातु)
• Form: लट् लकार, परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन (Present, Parasmaipada, 3rd person, Singular)

• कृषिकारकः: farmer/cultivator
• कृषिकारकः: Karta (Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कृषि+कारक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा विभक्ति, एकवचन (Masculine, Nominative, Singular); समासः षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (कृषेः कारकः = कृषकः)

Speaker

Unspecified (context-dependent within Bhūmi-khaṇḍa Adhyaya 94)

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: shanta

Secondary Rasa: adbhuta

Sandhi Resolution Notes

Sandhi Resolution Notes: यद्वर्षारूपेण = यत् + वर्षारूपेण; वर्षारूपेण is a tatpuruṣa compound; कृषिकारकः analyzed as tatpuruṣa meaning ‘one who does agriculture’.

FAQs

What ethical lesson does this verse teach?

It teaches moral causality: outcomes arise from one’s actions, just as a crop corresponds to the seed sown.

How does the farmer–seed metaphor explain karma?

The farmer’s seed represents intentional deeds; the resulting harvest represents the consequences (karma-phala) that follow those deeds.

Does this verse support the idea that karma is the main determinant of one’s experience?

Yes. It emphasizes karma as “paramount,” presenting results as a natural, law-like unfolding from prior actions.