Narada Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 8
Saṃsāra-duḥkha: Karmic Descent, Garbhavāsa, Life’s Anxieties, Death, and the Call to Jñāna-Bhakti
मनुष्यजन्म नापि च । चर्मकारचंडालव्याधानापितरजककुंभकारलोहकारस्वर्णकारतंतुवाचसौचिकजटिलसिद्धधावकलेखकभृतकशासनहारिनीचभृत्यद्ररिदहीनांगाधिकांगत्वादि दुःखबहुलज्वरतापशीतश्लेष्मगुल्मपादाक्षिशिरोगर्भपार्श्ववेदनादिदुःखमनुभवंति ॥ ८ ॥
manuṣyajanma nāpi ca | carmakāracaṃḍālavyādhānāpitarajakakuṃbhakāralohakārasvarṇakārataṃtuvācasaucikajaṭilasiddhadhāvakalekhakabhṛtakaśāsanahārinīcabhṛtyadraridahīnāṃgādhikāṃgatvādi duḥkhabahulajvaratāpaśītaśleṣmagulmapādākṣiśirogarbhapārśvavedanādiduḥkhamanubhavaṃti || 8 ||
কিছুমানে মানৱজন্মো নাপায়; বৰং চর্মকাৰ, চণ্ডাল, ব্যাধ, নাপিত, ৰজক, কুম্ভকাৰ, লোহকাৰ, স্বৰ্ণকাৰ, তন্তুবায়, দর্জী, জটিল, কথিত ‘সিদ্ধ’, ধাৱক, লেখক, মজুৰ, কৰ‑আদায়কাৰী, নীচ ভৃত্য আদি নীচ/কঠোৰ বৃত্তিত, বা দাৰিদ্ৰ্যত, অথবা হীনাংগ‑অধিকাংগ অৱস্থাত জন্ম লয়। তেওঁলোকে জ্বৰ, দাহ, শীত, শ্লেষ্ম‑বিকাৰ, গুল্ম, আৰু পাদ‑চক্ষু‑শিৰ‑গৰ্ভ‑পাৰ্শ্ব বেদনা আদি বহু দুখ ভোগ কৰে।
Sanatkumara (teaching Narada in the Purva Bhaga dialogue)
Vrata: none
Primary Rasa: karuna
Secondary Rasa: bibhatsa
FAQs
It underscores the Purana’s karmic worldview: actions and tendencies can lead not only to loss of a favorable human condition but also to births marked by hardship—social, economic, and bodily—thereby urging detachment and pursuit of dharma and liberation.
By vividly portraying the instability and pain of worldly embodiment, the verse functions as a motivator for taking refuge in higher practice—especially remembrance and devotion to the Lord—as the secure means to transcend repeated suffering.
No specific Vedanga is taught directly; the practical takeaway is ethical causality (karma-phala) and the need for disciplined conduct and remedial religious practice (dharma, vrata, and devotion) to avoid degrading conditions of birth.