Shloka 42
Nārāyaṇasya Guhya-nāmāni Niruktāni (Etymologies of Nārāyaṇa’s Secret Epithets) / नारायणस्य गुह्यनामानि निरुक्तानि
अस्थिस्थूणं स्नायुयुतं मांसशोणितलेपनम् | चर्मावनद्ध॑ दुर्गन्धिं पूर्ण मूत्रपुरीषयो:
asthisthūṇaṃ snāyuyutaṃ māṃsaśoṇitalepanam | carmāvanaddhaṃ durgandhiṃ pūrṇaṃ mūtrapurīṣayoḥ ||
Nārada said: “This body is but a framework of bones, bound with sinews, smeared with flesh and blood, wrapped in skin, foul-smelling, and filled with urine and excrement.” In this teaching, the sage exposes the body’s true, impure composition to weaken pride, lust, and attachment, and to turn the mind toward dharma and inner discipline rather than outward fascination.
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches dispassion (vairāgya) by revealing the body’s material, impure constituents, thereby reducing vanity and sensual attachment and encouraging ethical restraint and pursuit of dharma.
Nārada is instructing his listener through a stark description of the human body, using contemplative analysis of its composition as a moral-spiritual corrective against infatuation with physical form.