Shloka 5

Saṃsāra-gahana-jñāna: Vidura’s Account of Embodiment, Bondage, and Dharmic Release (संसारगहन-ज्ञानम्)

Devanagari script

इस समय उसे मांस और रुधिरसे लिपे हुए अत्यन्त अपवित्र गर्भाशयमें रहना पड़ता है। फिर वायुके वेगसे उसके पैर ऊपरकी ओर हो जाते हैं और सिर नीचेकी ओर ।। योनिद्वारमुपागम्य बहून्‌ क्लेशान्‌ समृच्छति । योनिसम्पीडनाच्चैव पूर्वकर्मभिरन्वित:

Transliteration

yonidvāram upāgamya bahūn kleśān samṛcchati | yonisampīḍanāc caiva pūrvakarmabhir anvitaḥ ||

Translation

Approaching the doorway of the womb, the embodied being undergoes many afflictions. Pressed and constricted within the womb, it suffers in accordance with its former deeds—bound to the consequences of past actions even before birth.

Word by Word

योनिद्वारम्the vaginal opening

उपागम्यhaving approached/reached

बहून्many

क्लेशान्afflictions, sufferings

समृच्छतिhe/she undergoes, meets with

योनिसम्पीडनात्from the compression/pressure of the womb/vagina

चand

एवindeed, just

पूर्वकर्मभिःby former actions (past deeds)

अन्वितःendowed/associated (with)

Speaker

विदुर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vidura

yoni (womb)

yonidvāra (womb-opening)

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores karmic causality: suffering is not random but arises in accordance with prior actions (pūrvakarma). Even the conditions surrounding birth are portrayed as shaped by moral causation, urging ethical responsibility in one’s conduct.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vidura describes the embodied being’s distress as it nears birth: approaching the womb’s exit, it experiences many pains and constrictions, with these hardships linked to the momentum of past deeds.