Srimad Bhagavatam — Tritiya Skandha, Shloka 23
The Lord’s Supervision of Embodiment: Fetal Development, Womb-Suffering, and the Jīva’s Prayer (Garbha-stuti) — and the Trap of Māyā
तेनावसृष्ट: सहसा कृत्वावाक्शिर आतुर: । विनिष्क्रामति कृच्छ्रेण निरुच्छ्वासो हतस्मृति: ॥ २३ ॥
tenāvasṛṣṭaḥ sahasā kṛtvāvāk śira āturaḥ viniṣkrāmati kṛcchreṇa nirucchvāso hata-smṛtiḥ
ప్రసవ వాయువు అకస్మాత్తుగా కిందకు తోసినందున ఆ శిశువు వ్యాకులమై తల కిందగా చేసి ఘోర కష్టంతో బయటకు వస్తాడు; శ్వాస ఆగినట్టుగా ఉండి, తీవ్రమైన వేదనతో స్మృతి కోల్పోతాడు।
The word kṛcchreṇa means “with great difficulty.” When the child comes out of the abdomen through the narrow passage, due to pressure there the breathing system completely stops, and due to agony the child loses his memory. Sometimes the trouble is so severe that the child comes out dead or almost dead. One can imagine what the pangs of birth are like. The child remains for ten months in that horrible condition within the abdomen, and at the end of ten months he is forcibly pushed out. In Bhagavad-gītā the Lord points out that a person who is serious about advancement in spiritual consciousness should always consider the four pangs of birth, death, disease and old age. The materialist advances in many ways, but he is unable to stop these four principles of suffering inherent in material existence.
FAQs
This verse describes the newborn being suddenly expelled, distressed, struggling to breathe, and losing memory—highlighting the intense pain and helplessness inherent in material birth.
Śukadeva Gosvāmī speaks this verse while narrating to Mahārāja Parīkṣit the conditioned soul’s experience from the womb through birth.
Remembering how easily consciousness is overwhelmed at birth encourages urgency for bhakti and steady spiritual practice now, before life’s shocks make remembrance difficult.