Shloka 21

नरनारायण-नारदसंवादः

Nara-Nārāyaṇa–Nārada Discourse on Vision, Elements, and Entry into Vāsudeva

Devanagari script

शीघ्रं परशरीराणि च्छिन्नबीजं शरीरिणम्‌ | प्राणिनं प्राणसंरोधे मांसश्लेष्मविवेष्टितम्‌

Transliteration

śīghraṃ paraśarīrāṇi chinnabījaṃ śarīriṇam | prāṇinaṃ prāṇasaṃrodhe māṃsaśleṣmaviveṣṭitam

Translation

Nārada berkata: “Dengan cepat tubuh-tubuh lain binasa; dan makhluk berjasad, yang ‘benihnya’ telah terputus, ialah makhluk hidup yang terikat dalam kekangan nafas—terbalut oleh daging dan kahak.”

Word by Word

• शीघ्रम्: quickly
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: शीघ्र
• Form: Avyaya (adverb)

• पर-शरीराणि: other bodies
• पर-शरीराणि: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: परशरीर
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Plural

• च्छिन्न-बीजम्: with seed cut off / seedless (cut at the root)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: च्छिन्नबीज
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• शरीरिणम्: the embodied one
• शरीरिणम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: शरीरिन्
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• प्राणिनम्: a living being
• प्राणिनम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्राणिन्
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• प्राण-संरोधे: in the restraint/suppression of breath (vital airs)
• प्राण-संरोधे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्राणसंरोध
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• मांस-श्लेष्म-विवेष्टितम्: wrapped/encased in flesh and phlegm
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मांसश्लेष्मविवेष्टित
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

नारद उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Nārada

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse stresses the perishability and material encasement of embodied life: bodies quickly pass away, and the living self is confined within a breath-bound organism wrapped in impure physical constituents. The ethical thrust is dispassion—reducing attachment to the body and turning toward liberation-oriented discipline.

What is happening in the narrative?

Nārada is speaking in an instructive mode, describing the embodied condition: the living being (jīva) is enclosed in a body sustained and constrained by prāṇa, and that body is materially constituted (flesh, phlegm), emphasizing its fragility and transience.