Shloka 81

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

Sanskrit

योजनानां सहस्रे द्वे रौरवो हि प्रमाणतः ।

जानुमात्रप्रमाणश्च ततः श्वभ्रः सुदुस्तरः ॥

Transliteration

yojanānāṃ sahasre dve rauravo hi pramāṇataḥ | jānumātrapramāṇaś ca tataḥ śvabhraḥ sudustaraḥ ||

Translation

ரௌரவம் எனப்படும் நரகம் அளவில் இரண்டாயிரம் யோஜனங்கள் விரிந்தது. அதன் அப்பால் ‘ஸ்வப்ர’ எனப்படும் அச்சமூட்டும் கடினமான பள்ளம் உள்ளது; அதன் அளவு முழங்கால் வரை மட்டுமே என்று கூறப்படுகிறது.

Word by Word

• yojanānām: of yojanas
• yojanānām: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yojana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Plural (बहुवचन)

• sahasre: in a thousand
• sahasre: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sahasra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Locative (7th/सप्तमी), Singular (एकवचन)

• dve: two
• dve: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dvi (प्रातिपदिक/संख्या)
• Form: Numeral (संख्यावाचक), Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Nominative/Accusative (1st/2nd प्रथमा/द्वितीया), Dual (द्विवचन)

• rauravaḥ: Raurava (hell)
• rauravaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: raurava (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन)

• hi: indeed
• hi: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: hi (अव्यय)
• Form: Particle (निपात), emphatic/causal nuance

• pramāṇataḥ: according to measure
• pramāṇataḥ: Hetu (हेतु)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: pramāṇa + tas (प्रातिपदिक + तसिल्)
• Form: Ablatival adverb (तसिलन्त अव्यय): 'according to measure/authority'

• jānu-mātra-pramāṇaḥ: having a measure of (only) the knee
• jānu-mātra-pramāṇaḥ: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: jānu (प्रातिपदिक) + mātra (प्रातिपदिक) + pramāṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Tatpuruṣa compound (तत्पुरुष): 'jānu-mātra' (knee-measure) qualifying 'pramāṇa'; Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन)

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: Conjunction (समुच्चयबोधक अव्यय)

• tataḥ: thereafter
• tataḥ: Apadana (अपादान)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatas (अव्यय)
• Form: Ablatival adverb (तसिलन्त अव्यय): 'from there/thereafter'

• śvabhraḥ: Śvabhra (hell)
• śvabhraḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śvabhra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन)

• su-dustaraḥ: very hard to cross
• su-dustaraḥ: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: su (उपसर्ग/अव्यय) + dustara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Prefixal formation with su- (सु-); Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन)

Speakers

• Frame not specified in input (likely narrative exposition within Markandeya Purana’s instructional discourse)

Verse Rasa

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

Primary Deities

• Yama (implied via yamānugāḥ in following verses)

Key Themes

• Dharma
• Karma
• Cosmology
• Afterlife
• Naraka
• Saṃsāra

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Actions create consequences that are not merely social but cosmic: the text depicts karmic results as unavoidable terrains the soul must traverse, emphasizing restraint and dharmic conduct.

How does this fit the Pancalakṣaṇa (5 characteristics)?

This passage aligns most closely with Vaṃśānucarita/Dharma-śikṣā style material rather than strict sarga/pratisarga; it is an ethical-cosmological teaching on karmaphala (results of deeds) using naraka topography.

What is the esoteric significance?

Raurava and Śvabhra function as inner states: the ‘vast hell’ and the ‘hard-to-cross chasm’ symbolically mirror the mind’s entrenched habits and the narrow passage of transformation where even small progress is painful.