Shloka 23
नरनारायण-नारदसंवादः
Nara-Nārāyaṇa–Nārada Discourse on Vision, Elements, and Entry into Vāsudeva
सड्रत्या जठरे न्यस्तं रेतोबिन्दुमचेतनम् । केन यत्नेन जीवन्तं गर्भ त्वमिह पश्यसि
striyā jaṭhare nyastaṁ retobindum acetanaṁ | kena yatnena jīvantaṁ garbha tvaṁ iha paśyasi, śukadeva ||
Nārada disse: “Quando uma gota de sêmen, insensível, é colocada no ventre de uma mulher, por que esforço ela se torna um embrião vivo? Ó Śukadeva, já refletiste sobre como esse embrião, aqui, é sustentado na vida?”
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse prompts reflection on the mystery of life: an insentient physical seed becomes a living being without any conscious ‘effort’ of its own, pointing to a sustaining principle beyond mere individual agency—often understood in the Mahābhārata’s ethical-philosophical frame as the workings of dharma, karma, and the divine/natural order.
Nārada addresses Śukadeva with a probing question about conception and gestation, using the transformation of an unconscious ‘drop’ into a living embryo as a contemplative device to lead the listener toward deeper inquiry into causality, embodiment, and the forces that sustain life.