Shloka 236
Dehānta (Cyavana) and Upapatti: Kāśyapa’s Questions and the Siddha’s Account of Death, Pain, and Karmic Re-embodiment
ब्रह्मणा सम्परित्यक्तो मृत इत्युच्यते नरै: । इस प्रकार जब जीव शरीरका त्याग करता है
brahmaṇā samparityakto mṛta ity ucyate naraiḥ |
Siddha said: “When the embodied being is wholly abandoned by Brahman (the life-principle), people call it ‘dead.’ For when the jīva leaves the body, it appears without breath; heat, respiration, radiance, and consciousness no longer remain. Thus a body forsaken by the self is termed ‘dead’ in common understanding.”
सिद्ध उवाच
Educational Q&A
Death is defined not merely as physical stillness but as the departure of the indwelling self/life-principle: when consciousness, warmth, breath, and radiance cease because the jīva is gone, the body is called ‘dead.’
A Siddha instructs by explaining how people recognize death: the body, once the jīva departs, becomes breathless and devoid of heat and awareness, and is therefore designated as a corpse.