Shloka 36

The Extent of Questions: Deathbed Rites, Kāla (Time), and Karma-Vipāka Rebirths

Devanagari script

यथा वायुर्जलधरान्विकर्षति यतस्ततः / तद्वज्जलदवत्तार्क्ष्य कालस्यैव वशानुगाः

Transliteration

yathā vāyurjaladharānvikarṣati yatastataḥ / tadvajjaladavattārkṣya kālasyaiva vaśānugāḥ

Translation

جیسے ہوا بادلوں کو جدھر اُدھر کھینچ لے جاتی ہے، ویسے ہی اے تارکشیہ (گرڑ)! جاندار بھی بادلوں کی مانند صرف کال (زمانہ) کے قبضے میں چلائے جاتے ہیں۔

Word by Word

• yathā: just as
• yathā: Upamāna-marker (Simile marker/उपमानसूचक)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yathā (अव्यय)
• Form: उपमान-अव्यय (comparative adverb: 'just as')

• vāyuḥ: wind
• vāyuḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vāyu (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• jala-dharān: clouds
• jala-dharān: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jala (प्रातिपदिक) + dhara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (determinative: 'water-bearing' = cloud); पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), बहुवचन

• vikarṣati: drags/pulls away
• vikarṣati: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vi + kṛṣ (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन

• yataḥ: from wherever
• yataḥ: Apādāna-marker (Source marker/अपादानसूचक)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yataḥ (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (correlative adverb: 'from where/whence')

• tataḥ: from there
• tataḥ: Apādāna-marker (Source marker/अपादानसूचक)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tataḥ (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (correlative adverb: 'from there/thence')

• tadvat: likewise
• tadvat: Upamāna-marker (Simile marker/उपमानसूचक)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tadvat (अव्यय)
• Form: तद्वत्-अव्यय (adverb: 'in that manner/likewise')

• jalada-vat: like clouds
• jalada-vat: Upamāna (Standard of comparison/उपमान)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: jalada (प्रातिपदिक) + vat (तद्धित)
• Form: वत्-प्रत्ययान्त अव्यय (comparative: 'like a cloud')

• tārkṣya: O Tārkṣya (Garuda)
• tārkṣya: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tārkṣya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/Vocative), एकवचन

• kālasya: of time
• kālasya: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāla (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन

• eva: indeed/only
• eva: Avadhāraṇa (Emphasis/अवधारण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: अवधारण-अव्यय (emphatic particle)

• vaśa-anugāḥ: (are) subject to/obedient to (its) control
• vaśa-anugāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vaśa (प्रातिपदिक) + anuga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (determinative: 'following (under) control'); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

Speaker

Lord Vishnu (in instruction to Garuda)

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Beings are driven and redirected by Kāla, like clouds driven by wind; individual agency is limited within time’s larger compulsion.

Vedantic Theme: Kāla as a manifestation of Īśvara’s order (niyati); saṃsāric movement under guṇa and time; humility before cosmic law.

Application: Reduce egoic control-claims; align choices with dharma while accepting outcomes as time-governed; practice equanimity amid change.

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: bhayanaka

Secondary Rasa: adbhuta

Geographic Context

Type: cosmic/natural imagery

Cross References

Related Themes: Garuda Purana: repeated Kāla-metaphors explaining the preta’s compelled journey and the inevitability of karmic fruition (general parallel).

Characters & Entities

• Garuda (Tārkṣya)
• Kāla (Time)

FAQs

What is the importance of Kāla (Time) in the Garuda Purana?

This verse states that all beings are under Kāla’s control, emphasizing that death and life’s movements are not fully negotiable—hence one should live dharmically and prepare spiritually.

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

By portraying beings as driven by Time like clouds driven by wind, it frames the post-death journey as governed by cosmic law—one is carried onward according to Kāla and one’s karmic condition.

Practical application of this wisdom today?

Recognize life’s impermanence, prioritize dharma and ethical choices, and perform duties and rites with sincerity rather than postponing spiritual preparation.