Shloka 62

Svapnādhāya (Dream-Chapter): Causes, Forms, Nourishment, and Liberation of Pretas

Devanagari script

लज्जा मे जायते तात वदतो भोजनं स्वकम् / यत्स्त्रीरजो योनिगतं प्रेता भुञ्जन्ति तत्तु वै

Transliteration

lajjā me jāyate tāta vadato bhojanaṃ svakam / yatstrīrajo yonigataṃ pretā bhuñjanti tattu vai

Translation

اے عزیز، ان کی اپنی خوراک بیان کرتے ہوئے مجھے شرم آتی ہے—عورت کا حیضی رَج جو فرج کے راستے میں ہوتا ہے، وہی بے شک پریت کھاتے ہیں۔

Word by Word

• लज्जा: shame
• लज्जा: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: लज्जा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• मे: to me / of me
• मे: Sampradana (Experiencer/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी (Case 6), एकवचन; सर्वनाम; स्वाम्यर्थे (genitive: ‘of me/to me’)

• जायते: arises/is born
• जायते: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: जन् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; आत्मनेपद

• तात: O dear one/father
• तात: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तात (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (Vocative/संबोधन), एकवचन

• वदतः: of (me) speaking
• वदतः: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वद् (धातु)
• Form: शतृ-प्रत्ययान्त वर्तमानकृदन्त (present active participle) ‘वदत्’; षष्ठी (Case 6), एकवचन; पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग रूप (genitive: ‘of (me) speaking’)

• भोजनम्: food
• भोजनम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भोजन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (Case 2), एकवचन

• स्वकम्: one’s own
• स्वकम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स्वक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषण

• यत्: that which
• यत्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; सम्बन्धसूचक सर्वनाम (relative)

• स्त्री-रजः: menstrual fluid
• स्त्री-रजः: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्त्री (प्रातिपदिक) + रजस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; ‘स्त्रियाः रजः’

• योनि-गतम्: located in the womb/vagina
• योनि-गतम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: योनि (प्रातिपदिक) + गत (कृदन्त; √गम् धातु)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषण; भूतकृदन्त (PPP) अर्थे ‘योनौ गतम्’

• प्रेताः: pretas
• प्रेताः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रेत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• भुञ्जन्ति: eat
• भुञ्जन्ति: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: भुज् (धातु)
• Form: लट्, प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन; परस्मैपद

• तत्: that
• तत्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• तु: indeed/but
• तु: Sambandha (Emphasis/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु (अव्यय)
• Form: विरोध/विशेषार्थक निपात

• वै: indeed
• वै: Sambandha (Emphasis/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वै (अव्यय)
• Form: निश्चयार्थक निपात

Speaker

Lord Vishnu (narrating to Garuda/Vinata-putra)

Pretakalpa Layer

Afterlife Stage: Pretayoni

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Extreme impurity and adharma correspond to degraded sustenance and association with pretas; speech itself recoils, indicating moral boundary.

Vedantic Theme: Tamas as downward pull; attachment to bodily impurity and adharma yields lower states; disgust functions as vairāgya-trigger.

Application: Cultivate purity of conduct and mind; avoid environments/actions that normalize degradation; use the teaching as a deterrent and as impetus toward sattva and devotion.

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: bibhatsa

Secondary Rasa: karuna

Geographic Context

Type: bodily/liminal space (yoni as symbolic locus)

Cross References

Related Themes: Garuda Purana 2.22: continuation of preta-bhojana descriptions with escalating bibhatsa imagery

Characters & Entities

• Pretas
• Garuda

FAQs

What is the importance of describing preta-food in the Garuda Purana?

This verse uses deliberately repulsive imagery to stress that the preta-condition is a state of deprivation shaped by karma, motivating dharmic living and proper post-death rites.

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

It reflects the intermediate preta phase where the departed may experience hunger and humiliation; the text frames such suffering as a karmic result and a reason to follow prescribed dharma and funerary observances.

Practical application of this wisdom today?

Live with restraint and purity of conduct, and ensure respectful death rites for ancestors; the verse functions as a moral warning against actions that lead to degraded post-mortem states.