Shloka 20
Dehānta (Cyavana) and Upapatti: Kāśyapa’s Questions and the Siddha’s Account of Death, Pain, and Karmic Re-embodiment
तादृशीमेव लभते वेदनां मानव: पुनः । भिन्नसंधिरथ क्लेदमद्धि: स लभते नर:
tādṛśīm eva labhate vedanāṁ mānavaḥ punaḥ | bhinnasandhir atha kledam addhiḥ sa labhate naraḥ, vipravara |
Sang Siddha berkata: “Manusia kembali mengalami derita yang sama. Ketika persendian tubuh seakan tercabik dan terurai, ia menanggung sengsara itu; dan pada saat lahir, basah oleh cairan rahim, ia menjadi amat gelisah.”
सिद्ध उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the continuity of suffering across death and rebirth: the agony of dying (as bodily joints loosen and break) is mirrored by the distress of entering and emerging from the womb. The ethical-philosophical thrust is toward vairagya (detachment) and sober reflection on saṁsāra, encouraging the listener to seek liberation rather than cling to bodily existence.
A Siddha addresses a Brahmin, describing what beings undergo at death and at birth. He explains that the embodied self experiences intense pain when leaving the body and similarly suffers during gestation and delivery, being drenched in womb-fluid and distressed—presented as an observation meant to instruct and awaken discernment.