Shloka 36
आत्यन्तिक-लयहेतुः: तापत्रय-विवेचनम् तथा ‘भगवान्/वासुदेव’ शब्दार्थः
Threefold Suffering and the Path to Final Liberation; Meaning of Bhagavān and Vāsudeva
एवमादीनि दुःखानि जरायाम् अनुभूय वै मरणे यानि दुःखानि प्राप्नोति शृणु तान्य् अपि
evamādīni duḥkhāni jarāyām anubhūya vai maraṇe yāni duḥkhāni prāpnoti śṛṇu tāny api
Having truly endured such sufferings in old age, hear also of the pains a being meets at the time of death.
Sage Parāśara (speaking to Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: The nature of embodied suffering and the pains at death as grounds for dispassion and liberation-seeking
Teaching: Ethical
Quality: authoritative
Concept: Having experienced the miseries of old age, one should also reflect on the inevitable sufferings of dying to loosen attachment to the body and possessions.
Vedantic Theme: Moksha
Application: Contemplate mortality (maraṇa-smṛti) to prioritize dharma, inner discipline, and remembrance of Hari over acquisitiveness.
Vishishtadvaita: The prompt to turn from fleeting bodily states toward the abiding Lord supports surrender (prapatti) to the personal Brahman rather than reliance on the perishing body-mind complex.
FAQs
It functions as a spiritual wake-up call: by clearly portraying jarā and maraṇa as unavoidable duḥkha, the text urges detachment from the perishable body and a turn toward liberation-oriented devotion and right understanding.
He frames it sequentially—after detailing the pains of old age, he transitions to the pains of dying—so the listener recognizes suffering as a continuous arc within samsaric embodiment, governed by time and karma.
By emphasizing the misery inherent in mortal existence, the verse implicitly points to Vishnu as the enduring Supreme refuge beyond decay—encouraging the seeker to orient life toward the imperishable reality rather than transient bodily conditions.