Adhyaya 10 — Jaimini’s Questions on Birth, Death, Karma, and the Embodied Journey
कथं न जीर्यते तत्र पिण्डीकृत इवाशये ।
स्त्रीकोष्ठे यत्र जीर्यन्ते भुक्तानि सुगुरूण्यपि ।
भक्ष्याणि यत्र नो जन्तुर्जीर्यते कथमल्पकः ॥
kathaṃ na jīryate tatra piṇḍīkṛta ivāśaye |
strīkoṣṭhe yatra jīryante bhuktāni sugurūṇy api |
bhakṣyāṇi yatra no jantur jīryate katham alpakaḥ ||
为何它在那里不被消化——如同容器(子宫)中的一团?在女子腹中,连所食之重物亦能消化;然而那众生虽微小、似可食,却不被消化于彼处——这是为何?
{ "primaryRasa": "adbhuta", "secondaryRasa": "shanta", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }
The question frames embodiment as governed by a higher order than mere physical chemistry—inviting reverence for life and humility about human knowledge.
Didactic supplement: Purāṇas often interleave such inquiries with cosmology and dharma, functioning as explanatory theology around Sarga/Pratisarga concerns.
The womb becomes an image of divine governance (niyati/ṛta): despite appearing ‘edible’ to the digestive fire, the jīva is protected by unseen laws until its prārabdha-karma ripens for birth.