Shloka 50
Kṛṣṇa Leads Kālayavana to Mucukunda; The Yavana Is Burned; Mucukunda’s Prayers and Boon of Bhakti
पुरा रथैर्हेमपरिष्कृतैश्चरन् मतंगजैर्वा नरदेवसंज्ञित: । स एव कालेन दुरत्ययेन ते कलेवरो विट्कृमिभस्मसंज्ञित: ॥ ५० ॥
purā rathair hema-pariṣkṛtaiś caran mataṁ-gajair vā nara-deva-saṁjñitaḥ sa eva kālena duratyayena te kalevaro viṭ-kṛmi-bhasma-saṁjñitaḥ
മുമ്പ് സ്വർണ്ണാലങ്കൃത രഥങ്ങളിലോ മദഗജങ്ങളിലോ ഉയർന്ന് സഞ്ചരിച്ച് ‘രാജാവ്’ എന്നു വിളിക്കപ്പെട്ട ദേഹമത്രേ, നിന്റെ അതിക്രമിക്കാനാകാത്ത കാലശക്തിയാൽ പിന്നീടു ‘മലം’, ‘പുഴു’ അല്ലെങ്കിൽ ‘ഭസ്മം’ എന്നു വിളിക്കപ്പെടുന്നു.
In the United States and other materially developed countries, dead bodies are cosmetically disposed of in a tidy ceremonial way, but in many parts of the world old, sickly and injured people die in lonely or neglected places, where dogs and jackals consume their bodies and transform them into stool. And if one is so blessed as to be buried in a coffin, one’s body may very well be consumed by worms and other minuscule creatures. Also, many earthly cadavers are burned and thus transformed into ashes. In any case, death is certain, and the ultimate fate of the body is never sublime. That is the real purport of Mucukunda’s statement here — that the body, though now called “king,” “prince,” “beauty queen,” “upper-middle class” and so on, will eventually be called “stool,” “worms” and “ashes.”
FAQs
This verse states that even a person celebrated as a king, riding golden chariots and elephants, is reduced by unstoppable time to a body ultimately known as stool, worms, and ashes—showing the impermanence of worldly status.
In the narrative of Mucukunda’s deliverance (Canto 10, Chapter 51), Krishna instructs him in detachment by exposing how time defeats all material pride, turning the mind from royal identity toward devotion and liberation.
It encourages humility and prioritizing spiritual practice over prestige—remembering that wealth, fame, and the body are temporary, while devotion, character, and service to Bhagavān are lasting.