Narada Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 8
Saṃsāra-duḥkha: Karmic Descent, Garbhavāsa, Life’s Anxieties, Death, and the Call to Jñāna-Bhakti
मनुष्यजन्म नापि च । चर्मकारचंडालव्याधानापितरजककुंभकारलोहकारस्वर्णकारतंतुवाचसौचिकजटिलसिद्धधावकलेखकभृतकशासनहारिनीचभृत्यद्ररिदहीनांगाधिकांगत्वादि दुःखबहुलज्वरतापशीतश्लेष्मगुल्मपादाक्षिशिरोगर्भपार्श्ववेदनादिदुःखमनुभवंति ॥ ८ ॥
manuṣyajanma nāpi ca | carmakāracaṃḍālavyādhānāpitarajakakuṃbhakāralohakārasvarṇakārataṃtuvācasaucikajaṭilasiddhadhāvakalekhakabhṛtakaśāsanahārinīcabhṛtyadraridahīnāṃgādhikāṃgatvādi duḥkhabahulajvaratāpaśītaśleṣmagulmapādākṣiśirogarbhapārśvavedanādiduḥkhamanubhavaṃti || 8 ||
彼らは真の人身すら得られず、むしろ苦に満ちた境遇を受ける。すなわち卑賤または苛酷な職（皮革職、チャンダーラ、猟師、床屋、洗濯人、陶工、鍛冶、金細工師、織工、仕立て屋、結髪の苦行者、いわゆる「成就者（シッダ）」、洗い手、書記、雇われ人、徴税人、下僕など）に生まれるか、貧者として、あるいは肢体の欠損・過剰をもって生まれる。そして熱病、灼ける熱、寒冷、痰の病、腹の腫瘤、足・眼・頭・胎内・脇腹などの痛みをはじめ、種々の苦を味わう。
Sanatkumara (teaching Narada in the Purva Bhaga dialogue)
Vrata: none
Primary Rasa: karuna
Secondary Rasa: bibhatsa
FAQs
It underscores the Purana’s karmic worldview: actions and tendencies can lead not only to loss of a favorable human condition but also to births marked by hardship—social, economic, and bodily—thereby urging detachment and pursuit of dharma and liberation.
By vividly portraying the instability and pain of worldly embodiment, the verse functions as a motivator for taking refuge in higher practice—especially remembrance and devotion to the Lord—as the secure means to transcend repeated suffering.
No specific Vedanga is taught directly; the practical takeaway is ethical causality (karma-phala) and the need for disciplined conduct and remedial religious practice (dharma, vrata, and devotion) to avoid degrading conditions of birth.