Shloka 3736

Adhyāya 42 — Mahābhūta–Indriya–Adhyātma-Vyavasthā

Brahmā’s Instruction on Elements and Faculties

Devanagari script

जरायुजानि भूतानि विकृतान्यपि सत्तमा: । श्रेष्ठ ब्राह्मणो! दो पैरवाले, बहुत पैरवाले एवं टेढ़े-मेढ़े चलनेवाले तथा विकृत रूपवाले प्राणी जरायुज हैं

Transliteration

jarāyujāni bhūtāni vikṛtāny api sattamāḥ | śreṣṭha brāhmaṇo |

Translation

Ваю сказал: «О лучший из существ, о превосходный брахман: существа, рождающиеся из чрева (jarāyuja), даже если их облик искажен или необычен, всё равно относятся к jarāyuja. Сюда входят двуногие, многоногие, те, кто движется криво или неровно, и те, чья внешность уродлива или повреждена.»

Word by Word

• jarāyujāni: born from the womb/placenta (viviparous)
• jarāyujāni: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: jarāyuja
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Plural

• bhūtāni: creatures, beings
• bhūtāni: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhūta
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Plural

• vikṛtāni: deformed, altered
• vikṛtāni: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vikṛta
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Plural

• api: even, also
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api

• sattamāḥ: O best ones (vocative sense in address)
• sattamāḥ: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: sattama
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vāyudeva (Vāyu)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches a dharmic-cosmological classification: beings are categorized by mode of birth, and external irregularities (deformity, unusual gait, number of limbs) do not change the fundamental category of womb-born (jarāyuja). It implies an ethical steadiness in judgment—do not let mere appearance obscure essential nature.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyudeva is instructing an addressed Brāhmaṇa, explaining what kinds of creatures are termed jarāyuja (womb-born), explicitly including those with abnormal or distorted forms and various modes of movement.