Shloka 9
अकल्प: स्वाङ्गचेष्टायां शकुन्त इव पञ्जरे । तत्र लब्धस्मृतिर्दैवात्कर्म जन्मशतोद्भवम् । स्मरन्दीर्घमनुच्छ्वासं शर्म किं नाम विन्दते ॥ ९ ॥
akalpaḥ svāṅga-ceṣṭāyāṁ śakunta iva pañjare tatra labdha-smṛtir daivāt karma janma-śatodbhavam smaran dīrgham anucchvāsaṁ śarma kiṁ nāma vindate
Unable to move his limbs, the child remains like a bird within a cage. If by providence he gains remembrance, he recalls the karmic sufferings of a hundred past births and laments with long, unbroken sighs; in such a state, what peace of mind could there be?
After birth the child may forget about the difficulties of his past lives, but when we are grown-up we can at least understand the grievous tortures undergone at birth and death by reading the authorized scriptures like Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. If we do not believe in the scriptures, that is a different question, but if we have faith in the authority of such descriptions, then we must prepare for our freedom in the next life; that is possible in this human form of life. One who does not take heed of these indications of suffering in human existence is said to be undoubtedly committing suicide. It is said that this human form of life is the only means for crossing over the nescience of māyā, or material existence. We have a very efficient boat in this human form of body, and there is a very expert captain, the spiritual master; the scriptural injunctions are like favorable winds. If we do not cross over the ocean of the nescience of material existence in spite of all these facilities, then certainly we are all intentionally committing suicide.
FAQs
This verse describes the jīva as helpless like a caged bird, and states that by providence he may remember karmic reactions from many births, realizing that there is no real happiness in such conditioned existence.
Śukadeva Gosvāmī narrates these teachings as part of Lord Kapila’s instructions to His mother Devahūti about the conditioned soul’s bondage and the need for liberation.
It encourages sober reflection on repeated suffering caused by karma and inspires detachment and sincere practice of bhakti and self-discipline to seek lasting relief beyond temporary pleasures.