Shloka 76
यथा तृणजलूकेयं नापयात्यपयाति च । न त्यजेन्म्रियमाणोऽपि प्राग्देहाभिमतिं जन: ॥ ७६ ॥ यावदन्यं न विन्देत व्यवधानेन कर्मणाम् । मन एव मनुष्येन्द्र भूतानां भवभावनम् ॥ ७७ ॥
yathā tṛṇa-jalūkeyaṁ nāpayāty apayāti ca na tyajen mriyamāṇo ’pi prāg-dehābhimatiṁ janaḥ
As a caterpillar grasps a new leaf before releasing the old, so the living being, impelled by former karma, does not relinquish identification with the present body until another body is obtained—even at the time of death.
A living entity too much absorbed in material activity becomes very much attracted to the material body. Even at the point of death, he thinks of his present body and the relatives connected to it. Thus he remains fully absorbed in the bodily conception of life, so much so that even at the point of death he abhors leaving his present body. Sometimes it is found that a person on the verge of death remains in a coma for many days before giving up the body. This is common among so-called leaders and politicians who think that without their presence the entire country and all society will be in chaos. This is called māyā. Political leaders do not like to leave their political posts, and they either have to be shot by an enemy or obliged to leave by the arrival of death. By superior arrangement a living entity is offered another body, but because of his attraction to the present body, he does not like to transfer himself to another body. Thus he is forced to accept another body by the laws of nature:
FAQs
This verse says that even at the time of dying, a conditioned person often cannot relinquish the long-practiced idea that the body is the self—like a worm that cannot fully release its grip.
Nārada aimed to awaken the king from fruitive ritualism and worldly absorption by exposing the root bondage—deha-abhimāna—so the king could turn toward bhakti and self-realization.
Practice remembering the soul’s identity through sādhana (hearing, chanting, prayer), reduce obsessive body-centered identity, and cultivate detachment by seeing the body as a temporary instrument for service to Bhagavān.