Shloka 13
यवनोपरुद्धायतनो ग्रस्तायां कालकन्यया । पुर्यां प्रज्वारसंसृष्ट: पुरपालोऽन्वतप्यत ॥ १३ ॥
yavanoparuddhāyatano grastāyāṁ kāla-kanyayā puryāṁ prajvāra-saṁsṛṣṭaḥ pura-pālo ’nvatapyata
The serpent, superintendent of the city’s guard, saw the citizens assailed by Kālakanyā and his own dwelling hemmed in by the Yavanas. When Prajvāra’s fire consumed his residence, he was grievously distressed.
The living entity is covered by two different types of bodies — the gross body and the subtle body. At death we can see that the gross body is finished, but actually the living entity is carried by the subtle body to another gross body. The so-called scientists of the modern age cannot see how the subtle body is working in carrying the soul from one body to another. This subtle body has been figuratively described as a serpent, or the city’s police superintendent. When there is fire everywhere, the police superintendent cannot escape either. When there is security and an absence of fire in the city, the police superintendent can impose his authority upon the citizens, but when there is an all-out attack on the city, he is rendered useless. As the life air was ready to leave the gross body, the subtle body also began to experience pain.
FAQs
In this allegory, Kālakanyā is the “maiden of Time,” representing old age that gradually seizes the body and makes the embodied soul suffer decline.
The Yavanas symbolize external, destructive forces of time that besiege the embodied condition—accelerating weakness, disease, and the loss of bodily control.
It urges sobriety and detachment: since time brings inevitable decline, one should prioritize bhakti and self-realization rather than living only for bodily comfort.