Shloka 31

Adhyāya 51: Kṛṣṇa’s Leave-Taking and Departure for Dvārakā (द्वारकागमनानुमति)

Devanagari script

कर्मणा जायते जन्तुर्मूर्तिमान्‌ू षोडशात्मक: । पुरुषं ग्रसते5विद्या तद्‌ ग्राह्मममृताशिनाम्‌

Transliteration

karmaṇā jāyate jantur mūrtimān ṣoḍaśātmakaḥ | puruṣaṃ grasate 'vidyā tad grāhyam amṛtāśinām ||

Translation

کرم کے سبب جیو جنم لیتا ہے اور سولہ اجزا پر مشتمل ایک ٹھوس (مُورت) بدن اختیار کرتا ہے۔ اَوِدیا پُرُش کو لگاتار نگلتی رہتی ہے؛ اور وہ امرت نوش دیوتاؤں کے لیے بھی ‘قابلِ گرفت’—یعنی ان کے قابو میں—ہو جاتا ہے۔

Word by Word

• {'karmaṇā': 'by action

• through karma (often implying desire-motivated acts here)', 'jāyate': 'is born

• comes into existence', 'jantuḥ': 'living being

• embodied soul in saṃsāra', 'mūrtimān': 'having form

• possessing a tangible body', 'ṣoḍaśa-ātmakaḥ': 'consisting of sixteen constituents (a doctrinal count of bodily/psychic factors)', 'puruṣam': 'the person

• the embodied self', 'grasate': 'devours

• overpowers', 'avidyā': 'ignorance

• misapprehension of the Self', 'tad': 'that

• such a one/that condition', 'grāhyam': 'to be grasped/seized

• an object of control or enjoyment', 'amṛta-āśinām': 'of those who eat/drink nectar

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• वायुदेव (Vāyudeva)
• अविद्या (Avidyā)
• अमृताशिन् (Amṛtāśin, the immortals/devas)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Desire-driven action leads to repeated embodiment; ignorance dominates the embodied person, making them subject to forces beyond their control. Freedom requires overcoming avidyā and transcending binding karma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyudeva delivers a doctrinal instruction: he explains how karma results in rebirth into a formed body (described as sixteenfold) and how ignorance keeps the person bound, even rendering them an object of higher beings’ enjoyment or control.