Shloka 25
नरनारायण-नारदसंवादः
Nara-Nārāyaṇa–Nārada Discourse on Vision, Elements, and Entry into Vāsudeva
जहाँ खाये हुए अन्न और जल पच जाते हैं तथा सभी तरहके भक्ष्य पदार्थ जीर्ण हो जाते हैं, उसी पेटमें पड़ा हुआ गर्भ अन्नके समान क्यों नहीं पच जाता है ।।
yatra khāyānnajalaṁ pacyate tathā sarvavidha-bhakṣya-dravyāṇi jīryante, tasminn eva udare patitaḥ garbhaḥ annavat kathaṁ na pacyate? garbho mūtra-purīṣāṇāṁ svabhāva-niyatā gatiḥ; dhāraṇe vā visarge vā na kartā vidyate vaśaḥ.
那罗陀问道：“就在那同一腹中，所食之饭与所饮之水皆被消化，诸般可食之物尽皆分解；为何躺在其中的胎胚却不如食物一般被消化？”继而他说：“胎胚的行程——与尿与粪之蓄留或排泄相关——遵循一定不移的自然次第；在持与放之间，并无一个能自作主宰、全然掌控的独立作者。有的胎胚自母胎滑落，有的得以出生，而更多者纵使出生亦复早夭：由此可见个人主宰之力有限，而自然之法则统摄有身之生。”
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights that bodily processes and the fate of the embryo operate under a fixed natural order (svabhāva-niyati), not under an independently controlling personal agent. It points to the limits of human mastery and the inevitability of birth, miscarriage, and death within embodied existence.
Nārada poses a physiological-philosophical question: if the stomach digests food, why does it not digest the embryo? He answers by invoking nature’s regulated course in gestation and excretion, and he observes that outcomes vary—some fetuses are lost, some are born, and some die after birth—underscoring the precariousness of life.