Shloka 77

Adhyaya 10 — Jaimini’s Questions on Birth, Death, Karma, and the Embodied Journey

Sanskrit

गतमात्रोऽतिरक्ताक्षं भिन्नाञ्जनचयप्रभम् ।

मृत्युकालान्तकादीनां मध्ये पश्यति वै यमम् ॥

Transliteration

gatamātro 'tiraktākṣaṃ bhinnāñjanacayaprabham /

mṛtyukālāntakādīnāṃ madhye paśyati vai yamam

Translation

तत्रोपगम्य स पश्यति यमं मृत्युकालान्तकादिमध्ये—तीव्ररक्तनेत्रं, कज्जलचूर्णराशिवद् दीप्तिमन्तम्।

Word by Word

• गतमात्रः: having just arrived
• गतमात्रः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: गत (गम्-धातु; कृदन्त) + मात्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular; ‘having only just gone/just arrived’ (गतमात्रः)

• अतिरक्ताक्षम्: with very red eyes
• अतिरक्ताक्षम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अति (अव्यय) + रक्त + अक्षि/अक्ष (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular; ‘with exceedingly red eyes’

• भिन्नाञ्जनचयप्रभम्: shining like crushed collyrium heaps
• भिन्नाञ्जनचयप्रभम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: भिन्न (भिद्-धातु; कृदन्त) + अञ्जन + चय + प्रभ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular; ‘having the lustre of a heap of crushed collyrium’

• मृत्युकालान्तकादीनाम्: of Death, Time, Antaka, etc.
• मृत्युकालान्तकादीनाम्: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मृत्यु + काल + अन्तक + आदि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Plural; ‘of (beings like) Death, Time, Antaka, etc.’

• मध्ये: in the middle
• मध्ये: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मध्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Locative (7th/सप्तमी), Singular; ‘in the midst’

• पश्यति: sees
• पश्यति: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: दृश् (धातु)
• Form: Present (लट्), Parasmaipada, 3rd Person, Singular

• वै: indeed
• वै: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वै (अव्यय)
• Form: Avyaya, emphatic particle

• यमम्: Yama
• यमम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular

Speakers

• Frame-dialogue context not provided in input

Verse Rasa

{ "primaryRasa": "bhayanaka", "secondaryRasa": "adbhuta", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

Primary Deities

• Yama
• Mṛtyu
• Kāla
• Antaka

Key Themes

• Judgment after death
• Personifications of death
• Karmic order

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Death is portrayed as an organized moral administration: Yama’s court is not chaos but a structured reckoning, urging ethical vigilance (especially truth and non-harm).

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

Didactic eschatology (naraka/preta-gati) rather than pañcalakṣaṇa.

What is the esoteric significance?

The cluster of Mṛtyu–Kāla–Antaka around Yama signifies layered inevitability: biological death, temporal decay, and final termination all converge as facets of one karmic process.