Shloka 4

Adhyaya 28 — Alarka Inquires into Varna and Ashrama Dharma; Madalasa Defines the Fourfold Duties

Sanskrit

याजनाध्यापने शुद्धे तथा पूतप्रतिग्रहः ।

एषा सम्यक् समाख्याता त्रिविधा चास्य जीविका ॥

Transliteration

yājanādhyāpane śuddhe tathā pūtapratigrahaḥ / eṣā samyak samākhyātā trividhā cāsya jīvikā

Translation

为他人主持祭祀并以清净而教导，且唯受清净如法之施与——此即被正确宣说为其三种生计。

Word by Word

• याजन: officiating at sacrifices (for others)
• याजन: कर्ता/विषय (Item in list)
• Type: Noun
• Root: याजन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (contextually in list), एकवचन; ‘याजयितृत्व/याग-करण’ sense

• अध्यापने: teaching (Veda)
• अध्यापने: कर्ता/विषय (Item in list)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अध्यापन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (contextually in list), एकवचन

• शुद्धे: pure; legitimate
• शुद्धे: विशेषण (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शुद्ध (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, द्विवचन (Dual); विशेषण of ‘याजन’ and ‘अध्यापन’

• तथा: likewise; and also
• तथा: सम्बन्ध/अव्यय (Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, समुच्चय/तुल्यताबोधक (adverb: ‘likewise’)

• पूतप्रतिग्रहः: acceptance of pure gifts
• पूतप्रतिग्रहः: कर्ता/विषय (Item in list)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पूत + प्रतिग्रह (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; समास: पूतः प्रतिग्रहः (कर्मधारय)

• एषा: this
• एषा: कर्ता (Karta/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: एतद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• सम्यक्: properly; correctly
• सम्यक्: क्रियाविशेषण (Adverbial modifier)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सम्यक् (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, क्रियाविशेषण

• समाख्याता: has been stated; has been explained
• समाख्याता: विधेय (Predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम्-आ-ख्या (धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (Past passive participle), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; ‘well declared’

• त्रिविधा: threefold
• त्रिविधा: विशेषण (Qualifier of ‘जीविका’)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: त्रिविध (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; समास: त्रयः विधाः यस्याः सा (तत्पुरुष/बहुव्रीहि-सदृश; here adjectival ‘threefold’)

• च: and
• च: सम्बन्ध/अव्यय (Conjunction)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक अव्यय (conjunction)

• अस्य: of him (the Brahmin)
• अस्य: षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध (Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: इदम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• जीविका: livelihood; means of living
• जीविका: कर्ता (Karta/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जीविका (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

Speakers

• Madālasā to Alarka

Verse Rasa

{ "primaryRasa": "shanta", "secondaryRasa": "dharma", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

Key Themes

• Dharma
• Brāhmaṇa livelihood
• Purity
• Teaching
• Ritual officiation
• Ethics of gifts

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Means of livelihood are moral choices: even permitted occupations must be ‘śuddha’ (ethically and ritually clean), and acceptance of gifts requires discernment.

How does this fit the Pancalakṣaṇa (5 characteristics)?

Dharma instruction embedded in dialogue; not a cosmological/genealogical pancalakṣaṇa element.

What is the esoteric significance?

‘Purified acceptance’ implies that what one takes into one’s life shapes one’s mind; the verse encodes a discipline of intake—material, social, and psychological.