Srimad Bhagavatam — Tritiya Skandha, Shloka 24
The Lord’s Supervision of Embodiment: Fetal Development, Womb-Suffering, and the Jīva’s Prayer (Garbha-stuti) — and the Trap of Māyā
पतितो भुव्यसृङ्मिश्र: विष्ठाभूरिव चेष्टते । रोरूयति गते ज्ञाने विपरीतां गतिं गत: ॥ २४ ॥
patito bhuvy asṛṅ-miśraḥ viṣṭhā-bhūr iva ceṣṭate rorūyati gate jñāne viparītāṁ gatiṁ gataḥ
அந்தக் குழந்தை தரையில் விழுகிறது; மலம் மற்றும் இரத்தம் கலந்த அழுக்கில் பூசப்பட்டவனாய், மலத்தில் பிறந்த புழுவைப் போல அசைகிறது. உயர்ந்த அறிவு மறைந்து, மாயையின் வசத்தில் அழுது கதறுகிறது।
FAQs
This verse describes the embodied being collapsing, smeared with blood, writhing helplessly and crying as awareness fails—illustrating how bodily identification and ignorance bring distress at death.
To shock the listener out of complacency: the comparison emphasizes the helpless, degraded condition of a jiva absorbed in bodily life, showing how far such consciousness is from the soul’s real auspicious path.
Cultivate remembrance of Bhagavān through bhakti (hearing/chanting), practice detachment from bodily pride, and live with dharma so consciousness at life’s end is steady rather than lost in fear and confusion.