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.
क्लेशाद् उत्क्रान्तिम् आप्नोति याम्यकिंकरपीडितः ततश् च यातनादेहं क्लेशेन प्रतिपद्यते
Tormented by suffering and oppressed by the servants of Yama, he attains departure from the body and then, through affliction, assumes the body of torment.
एतान्य् अन्यानि चोग्राणि दुःखानि मरणे नृणाम् शृणुध्वं नरके यानि प्राप्यन्ते पुरुषैर् मृतैः
Hear also of other fierce pains that occur at death for men, and those sufferings which are experienced in hell by the departed.
याम्यकिंकरपाशादिग्रहणं दण्डताडनम् यमस्य दर्शनं चोग्रम् उग्रमार्गविलोकनम्
Capture by the nooses and other implements of Yama’s servants, beating with rods, the dreadful sight of Yama, and the terrifying view of the harsh path.
करम्भवालुकावह्नियन्त्रशस्त्रादिभीषणे प्रत्येकं यातनायाश् च यातनादि द्विजोत्तमाः
Each torment is fearsome—grinding by millstones, burning in sand and fire, torture by instruments and weapons, and the beginnings of suffering, O best of twice-born.
क्रकचैः पीड्यमानानां मृषायां चापि ध्माप्यताम् कुठारैः पाट्यमानानां भूमौ चापि निखन्यताम्
Some are afflicted with saws, others are roasted for falsehood, some are cut with axes, and others are buried in the ground.
शूलेष्व् आरोप्यमाणानां व्याघ्रवक्त्रे प्रवेश्यताम् गृध्रैः संभक्ष्यमाणानां द्वीपिभिश् चोपभुज्यताम्
Some are impaled on spikes, some are thrust into the mouths of tigers, some are devoured by vultures, and others are eaten by beasts.
क्वथ्यतां तैलमध्ये च क्लिद्यतां क्षारकर्दमे उच्चान् निपात्यमानानां क्षिप्यतां क्षेपयन्त्रकैः
Some are boiled in oil, soaked in alkaline mud, thrown down from heights, and hurled by machines.
नरके यानि दुःखानि पापहेतूद्भवानि वै प्राप्यन्ते नारकैर् विप्रास् तेषां संख्या न विद्यते
The sufferings in hell, arising from sinful causes, are experienced by the inhabitants of hell, O Brahmins; their number cannot be known.
न केवलं द्विजश्रेष्ठा नरके दुःखपद्धतिः स्वर्गे ऽपि पातभीतस्य क्षयिष्णोर् नास्ति निर्वृतिः
Not only, O best of Brahmins, is there a succession of suffering in hell; even in heaven, for the fearful and perishable, there is no lasting happiness.
पुनश् च गर्भो भवति जायते च पुनर् नरः गर्भे विलीयते भूयो जायमानो ऽस्तम् एति च
Again, one becomes an embryo and is born as a man; in the womb he dissolves, and being born again, he passes away.