Shloka 15
Śuka’s Manifestation from the Araṇi (Āraṇeya-janma) — शुकजन्म (आरणेय-सम्भव)
इहैव परिवर्तन्ते तिर्यग्योनिप्रवेशिन: । त्रीणि कल्पसहस्राणि एतेषामहरुच्यते
ihaiva parivartante tiryagyonipraveśinaḥ | trīṇi kalpasahasrāṇi eteṣām ahar ucyate ||
畜生の胎に入った者たちは、この世においてこそ、幾度も幾度も輪転し続ける。かかる者にとっては、一つの「日」が三千カルパに等しいと言われる—それは、束縛の時がいかに広大で重苦しいか、また人ならぬ境涯へ堕ちることの倫理的代償がいかに深いかを示す譬えである。
याज़्ञवल्क्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse warns that falling into subhuman (animal) births results in prolonged, repetitive bondage within saṃsāra. By describing their ‘day’ as lasting three thousand kalpas, it stresses the immense duration and difficulty of such a condition, urging ethical conduct that prevents such degradation and supports liberation-oriented living.
Yājñavalkya is instructing his listener(s) on the consequences of certain karmic trajectories. He describes the fate of beings who enter animal wombs: they continue cycling within worldly existence, and their experience of time is portrayed as extraordinarily extended, underscoring the seriousness of moral and spiritual decline.