प्रसारणाकुञ्चनादौ नागानां प्रभुर् आत्मनः शकृन्मूत्रमहापङ्कशायी सर्वत्र पीडितः
Subject to the movements and contractions of the mother's bodily winds, lying in a mass of excrement, urine, and thick filth, it is afflicted everywhere.
निरुच्छ्वासः सचैतन्यः स्मरञ् जन्मशतान्य् अथ आस्ते गर्भे ऽतिदुःखेन निजकर्मनिबन्धनः
Without breath but conscious, remembering hundreds of births, it remains in the womb, bound by its own karma, enduring extreme suffering.
जायमानः पुरीषासृङ्मूत्रशुक्राविलाननः प्राजापत्येन वातेन पीड्यमानास्थिबन्धनः
Being born, covered in feces, blood, urine, semen, and other impurities, its bones are afflicted by the prajapati wind.
अधोमुखस् तैः क्रियते प्रबलैः सूतिमारुतैः क्लेशैर् निष्क्रान्तिम् आप्नोति जठरान् मातुर् आतुरः
With its head downward, driven by strong birth winds, it undergoes distress and emerges from the mother's womb in a state of suffering.
मूर्छाम् अवाप्य महतीं संस्पृष्टो बाह्यवायुना विज्ञानभ्रंशम् आप्नोति जातस् तु मुनिसत्तमाः
Having attained great unconsciousness, touched by the external wind, it loses awareness upon birth, O eminent sage.
कण्टकैर् इव तुन्नाङ्गः क्रकचैर् इव दारितः पूतिव्रणान् निपतितो धरण्यां क्रिमिको यथा
Its limbs feel as if pierced by thorns, as if torn by saws, and it falls to the earth with foul wounds, like a worm.
कण्डूयने ऽपि चाशक्तः परिवर्ते ऽप्य् अनीश्वरः स्तनपानादिकाहारम् अवाप्नोति परेच्छया
Unable even to scratch itself or to turn over, it receives nourishment such as breast milk only at another's will.
अशुचिस्रस्तरे सुप्तः कीटदंशादिभिस् तथा भक्ष्यमाणो ऽपि नैवैषां समर्थो विनिवारणे
Sleeping on impure bedding, bitten by insects and the like, it is eaten by them and unable to ward them off.
जन्मदुःखान्य् अनेकानि जन्मनो ऽनन्तराणि च बालभावे यदाप्नोति आधिभूतादिकानि च
The many pains of birth and those immediately following, as well as those experienced in infancy, arise from 'adhibhuta' and other sources.
अज्ञानतमसा छन्नो मूढान्तःकरणो नरः न जानाति कुतः को ऽहं कुत्र गन्ता किमात्मकः
Covered by the darkness of ignorance, with a bewildered inner mind, a person does not know: 'Whence have I come? Who am I? Where will I go? What is my nature?'
केन बन्धेन बद्धो ऽहं कारणं किम् अकारणम् किं कार्यं किम् अकार्यं वा किं वाच्यं किं न चोच्यते
By what bond am I bound? What is the cause, and what is not the cause? What should be done, and what should not be done? What should be spoken, and what should not be spoken?
को धर्मः कश् च वाधर्मः कस्मिन् वर्तेत वै कथम् किं कर्तव्यम् अकर्तव्यं किं वा किं गुणदोषवत्
What is righteousness, and what is unrighteousness? In what should one truly conduct oneself, and how? What is to be done, and what is not to be done? What possesses merit or fault?
एवं पशुसमैर् मूढैर् अज्ञानप्रभवं महत् अवाप्यते नरैर् दुःखं शिश्नोदरपरायणैः
Thus, by those who are deluded like cattle, whose great ignorance is the source, suffering is obtained by men devoted only to satisfying hunger and lust.
अज्ञानं तामसो भावः कार्यारम्भप्रवृत्तयः अज्ञानिनां प्रवर्तन्ते कर्मलोपस् ततो द्विजाः
Ignorance is a quality of darkness, giving rise to the impulse to begin actions; among the ignorant, such impulses arise, and from this comes the neglect of duties, O twice-born.
नरकं कर्मणां लोपात् फलम् आहुर् महर्षयः तस्माद् अज्ञानिनां दुःखम् इह चामुत्र चोत्तमम्
The sages declare that the fruit of neglecting duties is hell; therefore, the suffering of the ignorant is greatest, both here and hereafter.
जराजर्जरदेहश् च शिथिलावयवः पुमान् विचलच्छीर्णदशनो वलिस्नायुशिरावृतः
With a body worn out by old age, with weakened limbs, a man whose teeth are loose and fallen, whose skin, sinews, and veins are wrinkled,
दूरप्रनष्टनयनो व्योमान्तर्गततारकः नासाविवरनिर्यातरोमपुञ्जश् चलद्वपुः
Whose sight is lost to distant things, who sees only the stars within the sky, whose body trembles, with tufts of hair emerging from the nostrils,
प्रकटीभूतसर्वास्थिर् नतपृष्ठास्थिसंहतिः उत्सन्नजठराग्नित्वाद् अल्पाहारो ऽल्पचेष्टितः
With all his bones clearly visible, the joints of his back bent, whose digestive fire is extinguished, who eats little and acts little,
कृच्छ्रचङ्क्रमणोत्थानशयनासनचेष्टितः मन्दीभवच्छ्रोत्रनेत्रगलल्लालाविलाननः
Whose movements—walking, rising, lying down, sitting—are all difficult, whose hearing and sight are dulled, whose mouth is filled with drooling saliva,
अनायत्तैः समस्तैश् च करणैर् मरणोन्मुखः तत्क्षणे ऽप्य् अनुभूतानाम् अस्मर्ताखिलवस्तुनाम्
With all his faculties no longer under his control, facing death, he cannot remember any of the things he has experienced, even those of the moment before.
सकृद् उच्चारिते वाक्ये समुद्भूतमहाश्रमः श्वासकासामयायाससमुद्भूतप्रजागरः
At the utterance of a single word, great exhaustion arises; wakefulness comes from the effort of breathing, coughing, and disease.
अन्येनोत्थाप्यते ऽन्येन तथा संवेश्यते जरी भृत्यात्मपुत्रदाराणाम् अपमानपराकृतः
He is raised up by one person, laid down by another; in old age, he is disregarded by his servants, sons, and wives, treated with contempt.
प्रक्षीणाखिलशौचश् च विहाराहारसंस्पृहः हास्यः परिजनस्यापि निर्विण्णाशेषबान्धवः
With all purity lost, longing for pleasure and food, he becomes an object of ridicule even to his attendants, abandoned by all his relatives.
अनुभूतम् इवान्यस्मिञ् जन्मन्य् आत्मविचेष्टितम् संस्मरन् यौवने दीर्घं निश्वसित्य् अतितापितः
Recalling, as if in another birth, his own past actions, he sighs deeply in his old age, greatly afflicted as he remembers his youth.
एवमादीनि दुःखानि जरायाम् अनुभूय च मरणे यानि दुःखानि प्राप्नोति शृणु तान्य् अपि
Having experienced such sufferings in old age, now hear also of the sufferings that one attains at death.
श्लथग्रीवाङ्घ्रिहस्तो ऽथ प्राप्तो वेपथुना नरः मुहुर् ग्लानिपरश् चासौ मुहुर् ज्ञानबलान्वितः
Then, with neck, feet, and hands slack, a man is seized by trembling; at one moment he is overcome by weakness, at another endowed with awareness and strength.
हिरण्यधान्यतनयभार्याभृत्यगृहादिषु एते कथं भविष्यन्तीत्य् अतीव ममताकुलः
He is overwhelmed by attachment, thinking anxiously, 'What will become of my gold, grain, sons, wife, servants, house, and so on?'
मर्मविद्भिर् महारोगैः क्रकचैर् इव दारुणैः शरैर् इवान्तकस्योग्रैश् छिद्यमानास्थिबन्धनः
His joints are cut as if by cruel saws by those skilled in vital points, by great diseases, and as if by the fierce arrows of Death.
परिवर्तमानताराक्षि हस्तपादं मुहुः क्षिपन् संशुष्यमाणताल्वोष्ठकण्ठो घुरघुरायते
With eyes rolling, repeatedly flinging his hands and feet, his palate, lips, and throat drying up, he groans with a ghur-ghur sound.
निरुद्धकण्ठदेशो ऽपि उदानश्वासपीडितः तापेन महता व्याप्तस् तृषा व्याप्तस् तथा क्षुधा
Even when his throat is blocked, afflicted by the upward breath, overwhelmed by intense heat, he is seized by thirst and hunger.