Shloka 81

Atithi-prāpti and the Brāhmaṇa’s Deliberation on Triadic Dharma (अतिथिप्राप्तिः धर्मत्रयविचारश्च)

Devanagari script

प्रदिश्यन्तां च कर्माणि प्राणिनां गतयस्तथा । परिनिष्ठितकालानि आयूंषीह सुरोत्तमा:,'सुरश्रेष्ठटण! तुमलोग प्राणियोंको उनके कर्म, उन कर्मोंके अनुसार प्राप्त होनेवाली गति तथा नियत कालतककी आयु प्रदान करो

Transliteration

pradiśyantāṃ ca karmāṇi prāṇināṃ gatayas tathā | pari-niṣṭhita-kālāni āyūṃṣīha surottamāḥ ||

Translation

Вайшампаяна сказал: «О лучшие из богов, да будут должным образом назначены живым существам их деяния (карма) и также пути-участи (гати), следующие из этих деяний; и да будет здесь же установлена их продолжительность жизни по отмеренному сроку».

Word by Word

• प्रदिश्यन्ताम्: let (them) be assigned/given
• प्रदिश्यन्ताम्: Karma
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र-√दिश्
• Form: लोट् (imperative/benedictive sense), कर्मणि (passive), 3rd, plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• कर्माणि: actions/deeds
• कर्माणि: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: कर्मन्
• Form: neuter, nominative/accusative, plural

• प्राणिनाम्: of living beings
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्राणिन्
• Form: masculine, genitive, plural

• गतयः: destinies/paths (of rebirth)
• गतयः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: गति
• Form: feminine, nominative, plural

• तथा: likewise/also
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

• परिनिष्ठित-कालानि: having a fixed/settled time (limit)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: परिनिष्ठितकाल
• Form: neuter, nominative/accusative, plural

• आयूंषि: lifespans
• आयूंषि: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: आयुस्
• Form: neuter, nominative/accusative, plural

• इह: here (in this world)
• इह: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इह

• सुरोत्तमाः: O best of gods
• Type: Noun
• Root: सुरोत्तम
• Form: masculine, vocative, plural

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• surottamāḥ (the best of the gods)
• prāṇinaḥ (living beings)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse asserts a moral-cosmic linkage: beings’ actions (karma) are to be apportioned with corresponding outcomes (gati), and even lifespan is depicted as regulated within a fixed temporal order—implying an ethically structured universe rather than random fortune.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana narrates an injunction addressed to the foremost gods, asking them to administer the world by assigning creatures their karmic allotments, the resulting destinies, and their time-bounded lifespans—presenting divine administration as the mechanism by which karmic justice operates.