Shloka 3

Brahma-dhyāna: From Purification to Samādhi

Meditation on Brahman and Viṣṇu

Devanagari script

देहेन्द्रियमनोबुद्धिप्राणाहङ्करावर्जितम् / वर्जितं भूततन्मात्रैर्गुणजन्माशनादिभिः

Transliteration

dehendriyamanobuddhiprāṇāhaṅkarāvarjitam / varjitaṃ bhūtatanmātrairguṇajanmāśanādibhiḥ

Translation

అది దేహం, ఇంద్రియాలు, మనస్సు, బుద్ధి, ప్రాణాలు, అహంకారం లేనిది. భూతాలు, తन्मాత్రలు, గుణాలు, జననం-భోజనం మొదలైన స్థితుల నుండీ విముక్తమైన నిరుపాధి తత్త్వం।

Word by Word

• dehendriyamanobuddhiprāṇāhaṅkāra-varjitam: devoid of body, senses, mind, intellect, prāṇa, and ego
• dehendriyamanobuddhiprāṇāhaṅkāra-varjitam: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: deha + indriya + manas + buddhi + prāṇa + ahaṅkāra + varjita (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; समास)
• Form: Napुंसakaliṅga, Prathamā/Dvitīyā (Nom/Acc), Ekavacana; varjita = “devoid of”; compound expresses “devoid of body, senses, mind, intellect, vital-breath, ego”

• varjitam: devoid of / excluded from
• varjitam: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: varjita (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; √vṛj/varj ‘to avoid’)
• Form: Napुंसakaliṅga, Prathamā/Dvitīyā (Nom/Acc), Ekavacana; past passive participle (क्त) used adjectivally

• bhūta-tanmātraiḥ: by/with the elements and subtle elements
• bhūta-tanmātraiḥ: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhūta + tanmātra (प्रातिपदिक; समास)
• Form: Napुंसakaliṅga, Tṛtīyā (3rd/Instrumental), Bahuvacana; coordinated set “elements and subtle-elements”

• guṇa-janma-aśana-ādibhiḥ: with qualities, birth, eating, and the like
• guṇa-janma-aśana-ādibhiḥ: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: guṇa + janma + aśana + ādi (प्रातिपदिक; समास)
• Form: Napुंसakaliṅga/समूहवाचक, Tṛtīyā (3rd/Instrumental), Bahuvacana; “with qualities, birth, eating, etc.” (ādi-śabda)

Speaker

Lord Vishnu (in dialogue with Garuda/Vainateya)

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Brahman is free from body, senses, mind, intellect, prāṇa, ego; beyond elements, tanmātras, guṇas, and conditions like birth and eating.

Vedantic Theme: Negation of upādhis (limiting adjuncts) and prakṛti-tattvas; Brahman as nirguṇa and asaṅga; disidentification from pañca-kośa and ahaṅkāra.

Application: Use contemplative inquiry: ‘I am not body/senses/mind…’ and observe experiences as objects; reduce egoic ownership; reflect on impermanence of bodily processes to stabilize witness-consciousness.

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: shanta

Secondary Rasa: adbhuta

Cross References

Related Themes: Garuda Purana 1.44.4-1.44.5 (positive definition and mahāvākya-style culmination following this negation)

Characters & Entities

• Garuda
• Vishnu

FAQs

What is the importance of being 'free from body, mind, and prāṇa' in the Garuda Purana?

This verse emphasizes the truly liberated principle (ātman) as distinct from the psycho-physical apparatus; it is not defined by senses, mind, prāṇa, or ego, which are transient and associated with embodied experience.

How does this verse explain the path of the soul after death?

In the after-death context, the Purana differentiates what is perishable (body and instruments of experience) from what is ultimately real; the teaching points toward recognizing the self beyond elemental composition and guṇic conditioning, which underlies the journey through post-death states.

Practical application of this wisdom today?

Cultivate detachment and self-inquiry: observe that identity is not the body, senses, emotions, or ego; this supports ethical living, steadiness in grief, and a more spiritually grounded approach to death rites and remembrance.