Adhyaya 31

Verse 1

श्रीभगवानुवाच कर्मणा दैवनेत्रेण जन्तुर्देहोपपत्तये । स्त्रिया: प्रविष्ट उदरं पुंसो रेत:कणाश्रय: ॥ १ ॥

The Personality of Godhead said: Under the supervision of the Supreme Lord and according to the result of his work, the living entity, the soul, is made to enter into the womb of a woman through the particle of male semen to assume a particular type of body.

Verse 2

कललं त्वेकरात्रेण पञ्चरात्रेण बुद्बुदम् । दशाहेन तु कर्कन्धू: पेश्यण्डं वा तत: परम् ॥ २ ॥

On the first night, the sperm and ovum mix, and on the fifth night the mixture ferments into a bubble. On the tenth night it develops into a form like a plum, and after that, it gradually turns into a lump of flesh or an egg, as the case may be.

Verse 3

मासेन तु शिरो द्वाभ्यां बाह्वङ्‌घ्र्याद्यङ्गविग्रह: । नखलोमास्थिचर्माणि लिङ्गच्छिद्रोद्भवस्त्रिभि: ॥ ३ ॥

In the course of a month, a head is formed, and at the end of two months the hands, feet and other limbs take shape. By the end of three months, the nails, fingers, toes, body hair, bones and skin appear, as do the organ of generation and the other apertures in the body, namely the eyes, nostrils, ears, mouth and anus.

Verse 4

चतुर्भिर्धातव: सप्त पञ्चभि: क्षुत्तृडुद्भव: । षड्‌भिर्जरायुणा वीत: कुक्षौ भ्राम्यति दक्षिणे ॥ ४ ॥

Within four months from the date of conception, the seven essential ingredients of the body, namely chyle, blood, flesh, fat, bone, marrow and semen, come into existence. At the end of five months, hunger and thirst make themselves felt, and at the end of six months, the fetus, enclosed by the amnion, begins to move on the right side of the abdomen.

Verse 5

मातुर्जग्धान्नपानाद्यैरेधद्धातुरसम्मते । शेते विण्मूत्रयोर्गर्ते स जन्तुर्जन्तुसम्भवे ॥ ५ ॥

Deriving its nutrition from the food and drink taken by the mother, the fetus grows and remains in that abominable residence of stools and urine, which is the breeding place of all kinds of worms.

Verse 6

कृमिभि: क्षतसर्वाङ्ग: सौकुमार्यात्प्रतिक्षणम् । मूर्च्छामाप्नोत्युरुक्लेशस्तत्रत्यै: क्षुधितैर्मुहु: ॥ ६ ॥

Bitten again and again all over the body by the hungry worms in the abdomen itself, the child suffers terrible agony because of his tenderness. He thus becomes unconscious moment after moment because of the terrible condition.

Verse 7

कटुतीक्ष्णोष्णलवणरूक्षाम्‍लादिभिरुल्बणै: । मातृभुक्तैरुपस्पृष्ट: सर्वाङ्गोत्थितवेदन: ॥ ७ ॥

Owing to the mother’s eating bitter, pungent foodstuffs, or food which is too salty or too sour, the body of the child incessantly suffers pains which are almost intolerable.

Verse 8

उल्बेन संवृतस्तस्मिन्नन्त्रैश्च बहिरावृत: । आस्ते कृत्वा शिर: कुक्षौ भुग्नपृष्ठशिरोधर: ॥ ८ ॥

Placed within the amnion and covered outside by the intestines, the child remains lying on one side of the abdomen, his head turned towards his belly and his back and neck arched like a bow.

Verse 9

अकल्प: स्वाङ्गचेष्टायां शकुन्त इव पञ्जरे । तत्र लब्धस्मृतिर्दैवात्कर्म जन्मशतोद्भवम् । स्मरन्दीर्घमनुच्छ्‌वासं शर्म किं नाम विन्दते ॥ ९ ॥

The child thus remains just like a bird in a cage, without freedom of movement. At that time, if the child is fortunate, he can remember all the troubles of his past one hundred births, and he grieves wretchedly. What is the possibility of peace of mind in that condition?

Verse 10

आरभ्य सप्तमान्मासाल्लब्धबोधोऽपि वेपित: । नैकत्रास्ते सूतिवातैर्विष्ठाभूरिव सोदर: ॥ १० ॥

Thus endowed with the development of consciousness from the seventh month after his conception, the child is tossed downward by the airs that press the embryo during the weeks preceding delivery. Like the worms born of the same filthy abdominal cavity, he cannot remain in one place.

Verse 11

नाथमान ऋषिर्भीत: सप्तवध्रि: कृताञ्जलि: । स्तुवीत तं विक्लवया वाचा येनोदरेऽर्पित: ॥ ११ ॥

The living entity in this frightful condition of life, bound by seven layers of material ingredients, prays with folded hands, appealing to the Lord, who has put him in that condition.

Verse 12

जन्तुरुवाच तस्योपसन्नमवितुं जगदिच्छयात्त- नानातनोर्भुवि चलच्चरणारविन्दम् । सोऽहं व्रजामि शरणं ह्यकुतोभयं मे येनेद‍ृशी गतिरदर्श्यसतोऽनुरूपा ॥ १२ ॥

The human soul says: I take shelter of the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who appears in His various eternal forms and walks on the surface of the world. I take shelter of Him only, because He can give me relief from all fear and from Him I have received this condition of life, which is just befitting my impious activities.

Verse 13

यस्त्वत्र बद्ध इव कर्मभिरावृतात्मा भूतेन्द्रियाशयमयीमवलम्ब्य मायाम् । आस्ते विशुद्धमविकारमखण्डबोधम् आतप्यमानहृदयेऽवसितं नमामि ॥ १३ ॥

I, the pure soul, appearing now bound by my activities, am lying in the womb of my mother by the arrangement of māyā. I offer my respectful obeisances unto Him who is also here with me but who is unaffected and changeless. He is unlimited, but He is perceived in the repentant heart. To Him I offer my respectful obeisances.

Verse 14

य: पञ्चभूतरचिते रहित: शरीरे च्छन्नोऽयथेन्द्रियगुणार्थचिदात्मकोऽहम् । तेनाविकुण्ठमहिमानमृषिं तमेनं वन्दे परं प्रकृतिपूरुषयो: पुमांसम् ॥ १४ ॥

I am separated from the Supreme Lord because of my being in this material body, which is made of five elements, and therefore my qualities and senses are being misused, although I am essentially spiritual. Because the Supreme Personality of Godhead is transcendental to material nature and the living entities, because He is devoid of such a material body, and because He is always glorious in His spiritual qualities, I offer my obeisances unto Him.

Verse 15

यन्माययोरुगुणकर्मनिबन्धनेऽस्मिन् सांसारिके पथि चरंस्तदभिश्रमेण । नष्टस्मृति: पुनरयं प्रवृणीत लोकं युक्त्या कया महदनुग्रहमन्तरेण ॥ १५ ॥

The human soul further prays: The living entity is put under the influence of material nature and continues a hard struggle for existence on the path of repeated birth and death. This conditional life is due to his forgetfulness of his relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore, without the Lord’s mercy, how can he again engage in the transcendental loving service of the Lord?

Verse 16

ज्ञानं यदेतददधात्कतम: स देवस् त्रैकालिकं स्थिरचरेष्वनुवर्तितांश: । तं जीवकर्मपदवीमनुवर्तमानास् तापत्रयोपशमनाय वयं भजेम ॥ १६ ॥

No one other than the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as the localized Paramātmā, the partial representation of the Lord, is directing all inanimate and animate objects. He is present in the three phases of time — past, present and future. Therefore, the conditioned soul is engaged in different activities by His direction, and in order to get free from the threefold miseries of this conditional life, we have to surrender unto Him only.

Verse 17

देह्यन्यदेहविवरे जठराग्निनासृग्- विण्मूत्रकूपपतितो भृशतप्तदेह: । इच्छन्नितो विवसितुं गणयन्स्वमासान् निर्वास्यते कृपणधीर्भगवन्कदा नु ॥ १७ ॥

Fallen into a pool of blood, stool and urine within the abdomen of his mother, his own body scorched by the mother’s gastric fire, the embodied soul, anxious to get out, counts his months and prays, “O my Lord, when shall I, a wretched soul, be released from this confinement?”

Verse 18

येनेद‍ृशीं गतिमसौ दशमास्य ईश संग्राहित: पुरुदयेन भवाद‍ृशेन । स्वेनैव तुष्यतु कृतेन स दीननाथ: को नाम तत्प्रति विनाञ्जलिमस्य कुर्यात् ॥ १८ ॥

My dear Lord, by Your causeless mercy I am awakened to consciousness, although I am only ten months old. For this causeless mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the friend of all fallen souls, there is no way to express my gratitude but to pray with folded hands.

Verse 19

पश्यत्ययं धिषणया ननु सप्तवध्रि: शारीरके दमशरीर्यपर: स्वदेहे । यत्सृष्टयासं तमहं पुरुषं पुराणं पश्ये बहिर्हृदि च चैत्यमिव प्रतीतम् ॥ १९ ॥

The living entity in another type of body sees only by instinct; he knows only the agreeable and disagreeable sense perceptions of that particular body. But I have a body in which I can control my senses and can understand my destination; therefore, I offer my respectful obeisances to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, by whom I have been blessed with this body and by whose grace I can see Him within and without.

Verse 20

सोऽहं वसन्नपि विभो बहुदु:खवासं गर्भान्न निर्जिगमिषे बहिरन्धकूपे । यत्रोपयातमुपसर्पति देवमाया मिथ्या मतिर्यदनु संसृतिचक्रमेतत् ॥ २० ॥

Therefore, my Lord, although I am living in a terrible condition, I do not wish to depart from my mother’s abdomen to fall again into the blind well of materialistic life. Your external energy, called deva-māyā, at once captures the newly born child, and immediately false identification, which is the beginning of the cycle of continual birth and death, begins.

Verse 21

तस्मादहं विगतविक्लव उद्धरिष्य आत्मानमाशु तमस: सुहृदात्मनैव । भूयो यथा व्यसनमेतदनेकरन्ध्रं मा मे भविष्यदुपसादितविष्णुपाद: ॥ २१ ॥

Therefore, without being agitated any more, I shall deliver myself from the darkness of nescience with the help of my friend, clear consciousness. Simply by keeping the lotus feet of Lord Viṣṇu in my mind, I shall be saved from entering into the wombs of many mothers for repeated birth and death.

Verse 22

कपिल उवाच एवं कृतमतिर्गर्भे दशमास्य: स्तुवन्नृषि: । सद्य: क्षिपत्यवाचीनं प्रसूत्यै सूतिमारुत: ॥ २२ ॥

Lord Kapila continued: The ten-month-old living entity has these desires even while in the womb. But while he thus extols the Lord, the wind that helps parturition propels him forth with his face turned downward so that he may be born.

Verse 23

तेनावसृष्ट: सहसा कृत्वावाक्शिर आतुर: । विनिष्क्रामति कृच्छ्रेण निरुच्छ्‌वासो हतस्मृति: ॥ २३ ॥

Pushed downward all of a sudden by the wind, the child comes out with great trouble, head downward, breathless and deprived of memory due to severe agony.

Verse 24

पतितो भुव्यसृङ्‌मिश्र: विष्ठाभूरिव चेष्टते । रोरूयति गते ज्ञाने विपरीतां गतिं गत: ॥ २४ ॥

The child thus falls on the ground, smeared with stool and blood, and plays just like a worm germinated from the stool. He loses his superior knowledge and cries under the spell of māyā.

Verse 25

परच्छन्दं न विदुषा पुष्यमाणो जनेन स: । अनभिप्रेतमापन्न: प्रत्याख्यातुमनीश्वर: ॥ २५ ॥

After coming out of the abdomen, the child is given to the care of persons who are unable to understand what he wants, and thus he is nursed by such persons. Unable to refuse whatever is given to him, he falls into undesirable circumstances.

Verse 26

शायितोऽशुचिपर्यङ्के जन्तु: स्वेदज-दूषिते । नेश: कण्डूयनेऽङ्गानामासनोत्थानचेष्टने ॥ २६ ॥

Laid down on a foul bed infested with sweat and germs, the poor child is incapable of scratching his body to get relief from his itching sensation, to say nothing of sitting up, standing or even moving.

Verse 27

तुदन्त्यामत्वचं दंशा मशका मत्कुणादय: । रुदन्तं विगतज्ञानं कृमय: कृमिकं यथा ॥ २७ ॥

In his helpless condition, gnats, mosquitoes, bugs and other germs bite the baby, whose skin is tender, just as smaller worms bite a big worm. The child, deprived of his wisdom, cries bitterly.

Verse 28

इत्येवं शैशवं भुक्त्वा दु:खं पौगण्डमेव च । अलब्धाभीप्सितोऽज्ञानादिद्धमन्यु: शुचार्पित: ॥ २८ ॥

In this way, the child passes through his childhood, suffering different kinds of distress, and attains boyhood. In boyhood also he suffers pain over desires to get things he can never achieve. And thus, due to ignorance, he becomes angry and sorry.

Verse 29

सह देहेन मानेन वर्धमानेन मन्युना । करोति विग्रहं कामी कामिष्वन्ताय चात्मन: ॥ २९ ॥

With the growth of the body, the living entity, in order to vanquish his soul, increases his false prestige and anger and thereby creates enmity towards similarly lusty people.

Verse 30

भूतै: पञ्चभिरारब्धे देहे देह्यबुधोऽसकृत् । अहंममेत्यसद्ग्राह: करोति कुमतिर्मतिम् ॥ ३० ॥

By such ignorance the living entity accepts the material body, which is made of five elements, as himself. With this misunderstanding, he accepts nonpermanent things as his own and increases his ignorance in the darkest region.

Verse 31

तदर्थं कुरुते कर्म यद्बद्धो याति संसृतिम् । योऽनुयाति ददत्‍क्‍लेशमविद्याकर्मबन्धन: ॥ ३१ ॥

For the sake of the body, which is a source of constant trouble to him and which follows him because he is bound by ties of ignorance and fruitive activities, he performs various actions which cause him to be subjected to repeated birth and death.

Verse 32

यद्यसद्‌भि: पथि पुन: शिश्नोदरकृतोद्यमै: । आस्थितो रमते जन्तुस्तमो विशति पूर्ववत् ॥ ३२ ॥

If, therefore, the living entity again associates with the path of unrighteousness, influenced by sensually minded people engaged in the pursuit of sexual enjoyment and the gratification of the palate, he again goes to hell as before.

Verse 33

सत्यं शौचं दया मौनं बुद्धि: श्रीर्ह्रीर्यश: क्षमा । शमो दमो भगश्चेति यत्सङ्गाद्याति सङ्‍क्षयम् ॥ ३३ ॥

He becomes devoid of truthfulness, cleanliness, mercy, gravity, spiritual intelligence, shyness, austerity, fame, forgiveness, control of the mind, control of the senses, fortune and all such opportunities.

Verse 34

तेष्वशान्तेषु मूढेषु खण्डितात्मस्वसाधुषु । सङ्गं न कुर्याच्छोच्येषु योषित्क्रीडामृगेषु च ॥ ३४ ॥

One should not associate with a coarse fool who is bereft of the knowledge of self-realization and who is no more than a dancing dog in the hands of a woman.

Verse 35

न तथास्य भवेन्मोहो बन्धश्चान्यप्रसङ्गत: । योषित्सङ्गाद्यथा पुंसो यथा तत्सङ्गिसङ्गत: ॥ ३५ ॥

The infatuation and bondage which accrue to a man from attachment to any other object is not as complete as that resulting from attachment to a woman or to the fellowship of men who are fond of women.

Verse 36

प्रजापति: स्वां दुहितरं दृष्ट्वा तद्रूपधर्षित: । रोहिद्भूतां सोऽन्वधावद‍ृक्षरूपी हतत्रप: ॥ ३६ ॥

At the sight of his own daughter, Brahmā was bewildered by her charms and shamelessly ran up to her in the form of a stag when she took the form of a hind.

Verse 37

तत्सृष्टसृष्टसृष्टेषु को न्वखण्डितधी: पुमान् । ऋषिं नारायणमृते योषिन्मय्येह मायया ॥ ३७ ॥

Amongst all kinds of living entities begotten by Brahmā, namely men, demigods and animals, none but the sage Nārāyaṇa is immune to the attraction of māyā in the form of woman.

Verse 38

बलं मे पश्य मायाया: स्त्रीमय्या जयिनो दिशाम् । या करोति पदाक्रान्तान्भ्रूविजृम्भेण केवलम् ॥ ३८ ॥

Just try to understand the mighty strength of My māyā in the shape of woman, who by the mere movement of her eyebrows can keep even the greatest conquerors of the world under her grip.

Verse 39

सङ्गं न कुर्यात्प्रमदासु जातु योगस्य पारं परमारुरुक्षु: । मत्सेवया प्रतिलब्धात्मलाभो वदन्ति या निरयद्वारमस्य ॥ ३९ ॥

One who aspires to reach the culmination of yoga and has realized his self by rendering service unto Me should never associate with an attractive woman, for such a woman is declared in the scripture to be the gateway to hell for the advancing devotee.

Verse 40

योपयाति शनैर्माया योषिद्देवविनिर्मिता । तामीक्षेतात्मनो मृत्युं तृणै: कूपमिवावृतम् ॥ ४० ॥

The woman, created by the Lord, is the representation of māyā, and one who associates with such māyā by accepting services must certainly know that this is the way of death, just like a blind well covered with grass.

Verse 41

यां मन्यते पतिं मोहान्मन्मायामृषभायतीम् । स्त्रीत्वं स्त्रीसङ्गत: प्राप्तो वित्तापत्यगृहप्रदम् ॥ ४१ ॥

A living entity who, as a result of attachment to a woman in his previous life, has been endowed with the form of a woman, foolishly looks upon māyā in the form of a man, her husband, as the bestower of wealth, progeny, house and other material assets.

Verse 42

तामात्मनो विजानीयात्पत्यपत्यगृहात्मकम् । दैवोपसादितं मृत्युं मृगयोर्गायनं यथा ॥ ४२ ॥

A woman, therefore, should consider her husband, her house and her children to be the arrangement of the external energy of the Lord for her death, just as the sweet singing of the hunter is death for the deer.

Verse 43

देहेन जीवभूतेन लोकाल्लोकमनुव्रजन् । भुञ्जान एव कर्माणि करोत्यविरतं पुमान् ॥ ४३ ॥

Due to his particular type of body, the materialistic living entity wanders from one planet to another, following fruitive activities. In this way, he involves himself in fruitive activities and enjoys the result incessantly.

Verse 44

जीवो ह्यस्यानुगो देहो भूतेन्द्रियमनोमय: । तन्निरोधोऽस्य मरणमाविर्भावस्तु सम्भव: ॥ ४४ ॥

In this way the living entity gets a suitable body with a material mind and senses, according to his fruitive activities. When the reaction of his particular activity comes to an end, that end is called death, and when a particular type of reaction begins, that beginning is called birth.

Verse 45

द्रव्योपलब्धिस्थानस्य द्रव्येक्षायोग्यता यदा । तत्पञ्चत्वमहंमानादुत्पत्तिर्द्रव्यदर्शनम् ॥ ४५ ॥ यथाक्ष्णोर्द्रव्यावयवदर्शनायोग्यता यदा । तदैव चक्षुषो द्रष्टुर्द्रष्टृत्वायोग्यतानयो: ॥ ४६ ॥

When the eyes lose their power to see color or form due to morbid affliction of the optic nerve, the sense of sight becomes deadened. The living entity, who is the seer of both the eyes and the sight, loses his power of vision. In the same way, when the physical body, the place where perception of objects occurs, is rendered incapable of perceiving, that is known as death. When one begins to view the physical body as one’s very self, that is called birth.

Verse 46

द्रव्योपलब्धिस्थानस्य द्रव्येक्षायोग्यता यदा । तत्पञ्चत्वमहंमानादुत्पत्तिर्द्रव्यदर्शनम् ॥ ४५ ॥ यथाक्ष्णोर्द्रव्यावयवदर्शनायोग्यता यदा । तदैव चक्षुषो द्रष्टुर्द्रष्टृत्वायोग्यतानयो: ॥ ४६ ॥

When the eyes lose their power to see color or form due to morbid affliction of the optic nerve, the sense of sight becomes deadened. The living entity, who is the seer of both the eyes and the sight, loses his power of vision. In the same way, when the physical body, the place where perception of objects occurs, is rendered incapable of perceiving, that is known as death. When one begins to view the physical body as one’s very self, that is called birth.

Verse 47

तस्मान्न कार्य: सन्त्रासो न कार्पण्यं न सम्भ्रम: । बुद्ध्वा जीवगतिं धीरो मुक्तसङ्गश्चरेदिह ॥ ४७ ॥

Therefore, one should not view death with horror, nor have recourse to defining the body as soul, nor give way to exaggeration in enjoying the bodily necessities of life. Realizing the true nature of the living entity, one should move about in the world free from attachment and steadfast in purpose.

Verse 48

सम्यग्दर्शनया बुद्ध्या योगवैराग्ययुक्तया । मायाविरचिते लोके चरेन्न्यस्य कलेवरम् ॥ ४८ ॥

Endowed with right vision and strengthened by devotional service and a pessimistic attitude towards material identity, one should relegate his body to this illusory world through his reason. Thus one can be unconcerned with this material world.