Narada Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 12
Saṃsāra-duḥkha: Karmic Descent, Garbhavāsa, Life’s Anxieties, Death, and the Call to Jñāna-Bhakti
मासे द्वितीये पूर्णे पुरुषाकारमात्रतामुपगमय मासत्रितये पूर्णे करचरणाद्यवयवभावमुपगम्य चतुर्षु मासेषु गतेषु सर्वावयवानां संधिभेदपरिज्ञानं पंचस्वतीतेषु नखानामभिव्यंजककता षट्स्वतीतेषु नखसंधिपरिस्फुटतामुपगम्य नाभिसूत्रेण पुष्यमाणममेध्यमूत्रसिक्तांगं जरायुणा बंधितरक्तास्थिक्रिमिवसामज्जास्नायुकेशादिदूषिते कुत्सिते शरीरे निवासिनं स्वयमप्येवं परिदूषितदेहं मातुश्च कट्वम्ललवणात्युष्णभुक्तदह्यमात्मानं दृष्ट्वा देही पूर्वजन्मस्मरणानुभावात्पूर्वानुभूतनरकदुःथानि च स्मृत्वांतर्दुःखेन च परिदह्यमानो मातुर्देहातिमूत्रादिरुक्षेण दह्यमान एवं मनसि प्रलयति ॥ १२ ॥
māse dvitīye pūrṇe puruṣākāramātratāmupagamaya māsatritaye pūrṇe karacaraṇādyavayavabhāvamupagamya caturṣu māseṣu gateṣu sarvāvayavānāṃ saṃdhibhedaparijñānaṃ paṃcasvatīteṣu nakhānāmabhivyaṃjakakatā ṣaṭsvatīteṣu nakhasaṃdhiparisphuṭatāmupagamya nābhisūtreṇa puṣyamāṇamamedhyamūtrasiktāṃgaṃ jarāyuṇā baṃdhitaraktāsthikrimivasāmajjāsnāyukeśādidūṣite kutsite śarīre nivāsinaṃ svayamapyevaṃ paridūṣitadehaṃ mātuśca kaṭvamlalavaṇātyuṣṇabhuktadahyamātmānaṃ dṛṣṭvā dehī pūrvajanmasmaraṇānubhāvātpūrvānubhūtanarakaduḥthāni ca smṛtvāṃtarduḥkhena ca paridahyamāno māturdehātimūtrādirukṣeṇa dahyamāna evaṃ manasi pralayati || 12 ||
When the second month is complete, the embryo attains only the outline of a human form. When the third month is complete, it develops the state of having limbs such as hands and feet. When four months have passed, it gains discernment of the joints and divisions of all its limbs. When five months have passed, the nails begin to manifest; when six months have passed, the joints of the nails become clearly defined. Nourished through the umbilical cord, its body is drenched with impure urine; bound by the placenta, it dwells in a vile body defiled by blood, bone, worms, fat, marrow, sinews, hair, and the like. Seeing itself thus in a polluted body—and also seeing that the mother, from eating pungent, sour, salty, and excessively hot foods, is scorched—the embodied soul, by the force of remembering former births, recalls the sufferings of the hells previously experienced; burning inwardly with sorrow, and scorched by the harshness of the mother’s bodily wastes such as excessive urine, it sinks into mental dissolution (faintness).
Suta (narrating Purāṇic teaching; speaker not explicitly marked in this verse)
Vrata: none
Primary Rasa: karuna
Secondary Rasa: bibhatsa
FAQs
It uses garbha-duḥkha (suffering in the womb) to awaken vairāgya: the jīva’s embodiment is shown as impure and painful, prompting remembrance of karmic bondage and the need for liberation-oriented life.
By exposing the misery and helplessness of embodied existence, it implicitly turns the mind toward taking refuge in the Divine; bhakti is supported by such dispassion (vairāgya) and awareness of samsāra’s defects.
Primarily śāstric anatomy/embryology used for dharma-teaching rather than a Vedāṅga technical topic; the practical takeaway is contemplative discipline—meditating on bodily impurity and karmic causality to strengthen renunciation.