Shloka 9
महाभिष-गङ्गा-दर्शनं वसूनां शापकथनं च
Mahābhiṣa Encounters Gaṅgā; The Vasus Explain Their Curse
अष्टक उवाच यदेनसस्ते पततस्तुदन्ति भीमा भौमा राक्षसास्तीक्ष्णदंष्टा: । कथं भवन्ति कथमाभवन्ति कथंभूता गर्भभूता भवन्ति,अष्टकने पूछा--तीखी दाढ़ोंवाले पृथ्वीके वे भयंकर राक्षस पापवश आकाशसे गिरते हुए जिन जीवोंको सताते हैं, वे गिरकर कैसे जीवित रहते हैं? किस प्रकार इन्द्रिय आदिसे युक्त होते हैं? और कैसे गर्भमें आते हैं?
Aṣṭaka uvāca | yadenasās te patatas tudanti bhīmā bhaumā rākṣasās tīkṣṇadaṃṣṭrāḥ | kathaṃ bhavanti katham ābhavanti kathaṃbhūtā garbhabhūtā bhavanti ||
سأل أَشْتَكَة: «بأيّ إثمٍ تعذّب تلك الرākṣasas المولودة من الأرض، المخيفة ذات الأنياب الحادّة، الكائناتَ وهي تهوي؟ وكيف يظلّ الساقطون موجودين بعد السقوط؟ وبأيّ كيفية يصيرون—كيف يتشكّلون ويتجسّدون—وكيف يدخلون حالةَ كونهم في الرحم؟»
अष्टक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames suffering and post-mortem experience in terms of enas (moral fault) and karmic causality, and it links that causality to the mechanics of embodiment—how a being persists, takes form, and enters the womb for rebirth.
Aṣṭaka is questioning a teacher/interlocutor about a terrifying otherworldly ordeal: beings falling and being tormented by sharp-fanged rākṣasas. He asks why this happens (what sin causes it) and how those beings subsequently exist and become embodied again, including their entry into the womb.