Shloka 28
Dehānta (Cyavana) and Upapatti: Kāśyapa’s Questions and the Siddha’s Account of Death, Pain, and Karmic Re-embodiment
ततः सचेतनो जनन््तुर्नाभिजानाति किंचन । तमसा संवृतज्ञान: संवृतेष्वेव मर्मसु । स जीवो निरधिष्ठानक्षाल्यते मातरिश्वना
tataḥ sacetano jantur nābhijānāti kiṃcana | tamasā saṃvṛtajñānaḥ saṃvṛteṣv eva marmaṣu | sa jīvo niradhiṣṭhānaḥ kṣālyate mātariśvanā ||
Then, though the living being is still conscious, he understands nothing at all. His power of knowing is veiled by darkness (ignorance), and even the vital points within seem as though shut. At that final hour the jīva is left without any support, and the wind—the life-breath—dislodges him from his seat; thus the embodied self is driven on, helpless, by the forces that govern death.
सिद्ध उवाच
Educational Q&A
At the time of death, ignorance (tamas/avidyā) can eclipse discernment so thoroughly that even a conscious being cannot comprehend what is happening. The verse highlights human helplessness when inner clarity is absent, implying an ethical urgency: cultivate knowledge, self-control, and spiritual steadiness before the final moment, rather than relying on lucidity at the end.
A Siddha describes the dying condition: the creature’s cognition is covered by tamas, the vital junctions (marmas) are obstructed, and the jīva—lacking a stable support—is swept away by Mātariśvan (the wind/life-breath), i.e., the departing prāṇa dislodges the embodied self from its bodily seat.