Shloka 28
Sat-saṅga, Dharma-Nīti, Karma-Phala, Śauca, and Vairāgya
Overcoming Grief
कर्मजन्यशरीरेषु रोगाः शरीरमानसाः / शरा इव पतन्तीह विमुक्ता दृढधन्विभिः
karmajanyaśarīreṣu rogāḥ śarīramānasāḥ / śarā iva patantīha vimuktā dṛḍhadhanvibhiḥ
Nos corpos gerados pelo próprio karma, as doenças do corpo e da mente caem sobre o homem neste mundo—como flechas lançadas por arqueiros firmes e vigorosos.
Lord Vishnu (speaking to Garuda/Vinata-putra)
Concept: The body (and its sufferings) arises from karma; diseases—physical and mental—manifest as karmic impacts.
Vedantic Theme: Śarīra as karmaja (product of past action); duḥkha as phala within saṃsāra; impetus toward vairāgya and right living.
Application: Treat health as ethically and spiritually consequential: reduce harmful actions, cultivate sattva, and respond to illness with introspection and corrective conduct.
Primary Rasa: bhayanaka
Secondary Rasa: karuna
Related Themes: Garuda Purana: karma as the cause of embodied conditions; suffering as a teacher toward dharma; Garuda Purana: descriptions of pāpa leading to specific afflictions in post-mortem accounts (conceptual parallel)
FAQs
This verse links illness—both bodily and mental—to the karmic origin of the embodied condition, presenting suffering as a consequence that ‘strikes’ according to one’s deeds.
By emphasizing the karmically produced body, it frames embodied experience (including pain and mental affliction) as part of the soul’s ongoing journey through consequences of past actions.
Cultivate dharmic conduct and mental discipline, recognizing that actions shape future experience; respond to illness with ethical living, self-restraint, and corrective habits rather than fatalism.