Shloka 52

Adhyaya 1 — Jaimini’s Questions on the Mahabharata and the Origin of the Wise Birds

Sanskrit

निजरूपं परित्यज्य पक्षिणीरूपधारिणी ।

चत्वारस्ते च तनया जनिष्यन्तेऽधमाप्सराः ॥

Transliteration

nija-rūpaṃ parityajya pakṣiṇī-rūpa-dhāriṇī |

catvāras te ca tanayā janiṣyante 'dhamāpsarāḥ ||

Translation

อัปสราผู้ตกต่ำผู้นั้นจะละรูปเดิมของตน แล้วรับรูปเป็นนกเพศเมีย และจะมีบุตรชายสี่คนบังเกิดจากนาง

Word by Word

• निज-रूपम्: one’s own form
• निज-रूपम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: निज (प्रातिपदिक) + रूप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• परित्यज्य: having abandoned
• परित्यज्य: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: परि-त्यज् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त-अव्यय (gerund), ‘having abandoned’

• पक्षिणी-रूप-धारिणी: bearing the form of a bird
• पक्षिणी-रूप-धारिणी: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पक्षिणी (प्रातिपदिक) + रूप (प्रातिपदिक) + धारिणी (प्रातिपदिक; √धृ)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषण (qualifier of the addressed female)

• चत्वारः: four
• चत्वारः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चत्वारि/चतुर् (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; संख्यावाचक, ‘तनयाः’ विशेषणम्

• ते: your
• ते: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; सर्वनाम; ‘your’

• च: and
• च: Samuccaya (समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चय (conjunction)

• तनयाः: sons
• तनयाः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तनय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन

• जनिष्यन्ते: will be born
• जनिष्यन्ते: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: जन् (धातु)
• Form: लृट्-लकार (simple future), प्रथम-पुरुष, बहुवचन; आत्मनेपद

• अधम-अप्सराः: base/low apsarases
• अधम-अप्सराः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अधम (प्रातिपदिक) + अप्सरस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; ‘अप्सराः’ विशेषणम् ‘अधम’

Speakers

• Within the Adhyāya 1 frame narrative: the Dharmapakṣīs (wise birds) recounting antecedents to Jaimini (exact sub-speaker depends on edition’s verse mapping)

Verse Rasa

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

Key Themes

• Karma and consequence
• Curse and transformation (śāpa)
• Frame narrative of the Markandeya Purana
• Genealogical/progeny motif

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The verse underscores karmic causality: a celestial being (apsarā) can fall from her station through adharma or offense, and must undergo embodied consequence (a lower birth/form), yet life continues through progeny—implying both accountability and continuity of saṃsāra.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

Primarily Vamśa/Vamśānucarita (genealogy and the accounts of lineages/persons), with a secondary ethical framing typical of Purāṇic narrative (illustrating karma through story). It is not directly Sarga/Pratisarga/Manvantara in this specific verse.

What is the esoteric significance?

The ‘abandoning of one’s own form’ can be read symbolically as the jīva’s loss of former status/identity when bound by karma; ‘bird-form’ evokes liminality (between earth and sky), suggesting a transitional state where prior celestial merit is not fully lost, but constrained, until the karmic account is worked through.