Shloka 17

Dehānta (Cyavana) and Upapatti: Kāśyapa’s Questions and the Siddha’s Account of Death, Pain, and Karmic Re-embodiment

Devanagari script

तत: सवेदन: सद्यो जीव: प्रच्यवते क्षरात्‌ शरीर त्यजते जनन्‍्तुश्छिद्यमानेषु मर्मसु

Transliteration

tataḥ sa-vedanaḥ sadyo jīvaḥ pracyavate kṣarāt | śarīraṁ tyajate jantuś chidyamāneṣu marmasu ||

Translation

Alors, lorsque les points vitaux (marmas) sont tranchés, l’être incarné—frappé par la douleur—quitte aussitôt le corps périssable. La créature vivante abandonne entièrement ce corps et le laisse derrière elle pour toujours. Le passage souligne la fragilité de la vie incarnée et l’inéluctabilité de la mort lorsque les appuis vitaux du corps sont détruits.

Word by Word

• ततः: then, thereafter
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः (तद्-प्रातिपदिक)

• सवेदनः: pained, with sensation of pain
• सवेदनः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सवेदन (वेदन-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• सद्यः: immediately
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सद्यः

• जीवः: the living being, soul
• जीवः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: जीव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• प्रच्यवते: falls away, departs
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र-च्यु (धातु)
• Form: Present (Lat), 3rd, Singular, Atmanepada

• क्षरात्: from the perishable (body)
• क्षरात्: Apadana
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्षर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Ablative, Singular

• शरीरम्: body
• शरीरम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: शरीर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• त्यजते: abandons, gives up
• Type: Verb
• Root: त्यज् (धातु)
• Form: Present (Lat), 3rd, Singular, Atmanepada

• जन्तुः: creature, embodied being
• जन्तुः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: जन्तु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• छिद्यमानेषु: when being cut
• छिद्यमानेषु: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: छिद्यमान (छिद्-धातु, वर्तमानकृदन्त)
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Plural

• मर्मसु: in the vital spots (marmas)
• मर्मसु: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: मर्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Plural

• इति: thus
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति

• श्रीमहाभारते: in the Śrī Mahābhārata
• श्रीमहाभारते: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: महाभारत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• आश्वमेधिके: in the Aśvamedhika (parvan)
• आश्वमेधिके: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: आश्वमेधिक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• पर्वणि: in the book/section (parvan)
• पर्वणि: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पर्वन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• अनुगीतापर्वणि: in the Anugītā section
• अनुगीतापर्वणि: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: अनुगीता-पर्वन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• सप्तदशः: seventeenth
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सप्तदश (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अध्यायः: chapter
• Type: Noun
• Root: अध्याय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

सिद्ध उवाच

Characters & Entities

• siddha (speaker)
• jīva
• jantu
• śarīra
• marma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Life in the body is dependent on fragile bodily supports; when the vital points are destroyed, the jīva departs immediately. The verse encourages sober reflection on impermanence and supports ethical detachment from bodily identification.

What is happening in the narrative?

A Siddha explains the moment of death in physiological and philosophical terms: as the marmas (vital points) are cut or damaged, intense pain arises and the embodied being leaves the perishable body, abandoning it definitively.