Narada Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 6
Saṃsāra-duḥkha: Karmic Descent, Garbhavāsa, Life’s Anxieties, Death, and the Call to Jñāna-Bhakti
अंडजत्वेऽपि वाताशनामांसामेध्याद्यशनाश्च परपीडापरायणा नित्यं दुःखबहुला ग्राम्यपशुयोनिमागता अपि स्वजातिवियोगभारोद्वहनपाशादिबंधनताडनहलादिधारणादिसर्वदुःखान्यनुभवंति ॥ ६ ॥
aṃḍajatve'pi vātāśanāmāṃsāmedhyādyaśanāśca parapīḍāparāyaṇā nityaṃ duḥkhabahulā grāmyapaśuyonimāgatā api svajātiviyogabhārodvahanapāśādibaṃdhanatāḍanahalādidhāraṇādisarvaduḥkhānyanubhavaṃti || 6 ||
Even when born from eggs, they subsist on wind, flesh, and impure foods, intent on harming other beings. Ever filled with suffering, and even when they enter the womb of domesticated animals, they undergo every kind of pain—separation from their own kind, bearing heavy loads, being bound with ropes and the like, being beaten, and being made to carry ploughs and other burdens.
Sage Sanatkumara (in instruction to Narada)
Vrata: none
Primary Rasa: karuna
Secondary Rasa: bibhatsa
FAQs
It highlights karmic retribution within saṃsāra: cruelty and impure, harmful tendencies lead to births marked by continual suffering and bondage, urging the aspirant toward dharma and compassion.
By exposing the harshness of lower births and worldly bondage, the verse indirectly motivates turning to Bhagavān through bhakti as a refuge from repeated suffering and as a purifier of violent tendencies.
No specific Vedāṅga (like Vyākaraṇa, Jyotiṣa, or Kalpa) is taught in this verse; it functions primarily as a dharma-ethical teaching supporting ahiṃsā and right conduct.