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.
जातमात्रश् च म्रियते बालभावे च यौवने यद् यत् प्रीतिकरं पुंसां वस्तु विप्राः प्रजायते
Some die immediately after birth, some in childhood, some in youth; whatever brings pleasure to men, O Brahmins, is produced.
तद् एव दुःखवृक्षस्य बीजत्वम् उपगच्छति कलत्रपुत्रमित्रादिगृहक्षेत्रधनादिकैः
That itself becomes the seed of the tree of suffering—wives, sons, friends, houses, fields, wealth, and the like.
क्रियते न तथा भूरि सुखं पुंसां यथासुखम् इति संसारदुःखार्कतापतापितचेतसाम्
Such abundant happiness is not created for men as they wish; thus, the minds of those scorched by the heat of worldly suffering are afflicted.
विमुक्तिपादपच्छायाम् ऋते कुत्र सुखं नृणाम् तद् अस्य त्रिविधस्यापि दुःखजातस्य पण्डितैः
Except in the shade of the tree of liberation, where is happiness for men? Thus, for this threefold origin of suffering, the wise declare.
गर्भजन्मजराद्येषु स्थानेषु प्रभविष्यतः निरस्तातिशयाह्लादं सुखभावैकलक्षणम्
In the conditions of womb, birth, old age, and the like, for those who are subject to them, happiness is devoid of excess and is marked by impermanence.
भेषजं भगवत्प्राप्तिर् एका चात्यन्तिकी मता तस्मात् तत्प्राप्तये यत्नः कर्तव्यः पण्डितैर् नरैः
The only ultimate remedy is attainment of the Lord; therefore, the wise should strive for that attainment.
तत्प्राप्तिहेतुर् ज्ञानं च कर्म चोक्तं द्विजोत्तमाः आगमोत्थं विवेकाच् च द्विधा ज्ञानं तथोच्यते
Knowledge and action are said to be the means for attaining that; O best of twice-born, knowledge is declared to be of two kinds, arising from scripture and from discernment.
शब्दब्रह्मागममयं परं ब्रह्म विवेकजम् अन्धं तम इवाज्ञानं दीपवच् चेन्द्रियोद्भवम्
The supreme Brahman born of discernment is distinct from the Brahman of sound and scripture; ignorance is like blind darkness, while sense-born knowledge is like a lamp.
यथा सूर्यस् तथा ज्ञानं यद् वै विप्रा विवेकजम् मनुर् अप्य् आह वेदार्थं स्मृत्वा यन् मुनिसत्तमाः
Just as the sun, so is the knowledge born of discernment, O Brahmins; Manu also spoke of the meaning of the Vedas, recalling it, O foremost sages.
तद् एतच् छ्रूयताम् अत्र संबन्धे गदतो मम द्वे ब्रह्मणी वेदितव्ये शब्दब्रह्म परं च यत्
Now hear from me, as I speak on this connection: two forms of Brahman must be known—the Brahman of sound and the supreme Brahman.