तद्वत्सत्यं मया ज्ञातं सुकृताच्छोभनं भवेत् । यतोत्कृष्टतमं पुण्यं तथोत्कृष्टतरोनरः ॥ २,४६.
In the same way, I have understood that truth leads to auspiciousness through good deeds; as the highest merit, so is the person of highest excellence.
एवन्तु श्रोतुमिच्छामि जायन्ते पापिनो यथा । येन कर्मविपाकेन यथा नियमभाग्भवेत् ॥ २,४६.
Thus, I wish to hear how sinners are born, and by what result of karma they become subject to certain conditions.
यांयां योनिमवाप्नोति यथारूपश्च जायते । तन्मे वद सुरश्रेष्ठ समासेनापि काङ्क्षितम् ॥ २,४६.
Into what womb one enters, and with what form one is born—tell me that, O best of gods, even briefly, as I desire to know.
श्रीकृष्ण उवाच । शुभाशुभफलैस्तार्क्ष्य भुक्तभोगा नरास्त्विह । जायन्ते लक्षणैर्यैस्तुतानि मे शृणु काश्यप ॥ २,४६.
Śrī Kṛṣṇa said: O Tārkṣya, after experiencing the results of good and bad actions, people are born with certain marks; listen, O Kāśyapa, as I describe them.
गुरुरात्मवतां शास्ता राजा शास्ता दुरात्मनाम् । इह प्रच्छन्नपापानां शास्ता वैवस्वतो यमः ॥ २,४६.
The teacher is the ruler for those who are self-controlled; the king is the ruler for the wicked; here, for those who commit hidden sins, Yama, son of Vivasvat, is the ruler.
प्रायश्चित्तेष्वचीर्णेषु यमलोका ह्यनेकधा । यातनाभिर्विमुक्ता ये यान्ति ते जीवसन्ततीम् ॥ २,४६.
For those who have not performed expiations, there are many realms of Yama; those who are freed from torments go on to a succession of births.
गत्वा मानुषभावे तु पापचिह्ना भवन्ति ते । तान्यहं तव चिह्नानि कथयिष्ये खगोत्तम ॥ २,४६.
Having come into human birth, they bear marks of sin; I will tell you those marks, O best of birds.
सोढ्वा वै यातनाः सर्वा गत्वा वैवस्वतक्षयम् । निस्तीर्णयातनास्ते तु लोकमायान्ति चिह्निताः ॥ २,४६.
Having endured all torments and reached the abode of Yama, those who have finished their suffering come to the world, marked as such.
गद्गदोऽनतवादी स्यान्मूकश्चैव गवानृते । ब्रह्महा जायते कुष्ठी श्यावदन्तश्च मद्यपः ॥ २,४६.
One who stammers or cannot speak properly is so from lying about cows; a murderer of a brāhmaṇa is born as a leper, and one who drinks liquor has blackened teeth.
कुनखी स्वर्णहरणाद्दुश्चर्मा गुरुतल्पगः । संयोगी हीनयोनिः स्याद्दरिद्रोऽदत्तदानतः ॥ २,४६.
One with deformed nails is so from stealing gold; one with diseased skin from violating the teacher’s bed; one born in a low womb from improper union; one who is poor from taking what was not given.
अयाज्ययाजको याति ग्राहमसूकरतां द्विजः । खरो वै बहुयाजी स्यात्काको निर्मन्त्रभोजनात् ॥ २,४६.
A priest who performs sacrifices for the unworthy becomes a crane; a twice-born who eats without mantras becomes a crow; one who performs many sacrifices becomes a donkey; one who sacrifices for the unworthy becomes a pig.
अपरीक्षितभोक्तारो व्याघ्राः स्युर्निर्जने वने । बहुतर्जको मार्जरः खद्योतः कक्षदाहकः ॥ २,४६.
Those who eat without examining (the food) become tigers in a lonely forest; one who threatens excessively becomes a cat; one who burns the undergrowth becomes a firefly.
पात्रे विद्याप्रदाता यो बलीवर्दो भवेत्तसः । अन्नं पर्युषितं विप्रे प्रददत्कुक्करो भवेत् ॥ २,४६.
He who imparts knowledge to an unworthy person becomes an ox; a Brahmin who gives stale food becomes a dog.
मात्सर्यादपि जात्यन्धो जन्मान्धः पुस्तकं हरन् । फलान्याहरतोऽपत्यं म्रियते नात्र संशयः ॥ २,४६.
One who steals a book out of envy or is blind by birth becomes blind in birth; there is no doubt that the offspring of one who steals fruits will die.
मृतो वानरतां याति तन्मुखो गण्डवान् भवेत् । अदत्त्वा भक्ष्यमश्राति अनपत्यो भवेत्तु सः ॥ २,४६.
After death, he becomes a monkey; his face becomes swollen; one who eats without giving to others becomes childless.
हरन्वस्त्रं भवेद्गोधा गरदः पवनाशनः । प्रवज्यागमनाद्राजन् भवेन्मरुपिशाचकः ॥ २,४६.
One who steals clothes becomes a lizard; one who gives poison becomes an eater of wind; O king, one who comes after renouncing the world becomes a wind-demon.
चातको जलहर्ता स्याद्धान्यहर्ता च मूषिकः । अप्राप्तयौवनां सेवन् भवेत्सर्प इति श्रुतिः ॥ २,४६.
One who steals water becomes a chataka bird; one who steals grain becomes a mouse; it is said that one who approaches a girl before her youth becomes a snake.
गुरुदाराभिलाषी च कृकलासो भवेद्ध्रुवम् । जलप्रस्त्रवणं यस्तु भिन्द्यान्मत्स्यो भवेन्नरः ॥ २,४६.
One who desires his teacher's wife certainly becomes a kṛkalāsa bird; a man who breaks a water channel becomes a fish.
अविक्रेयक्रयाच्चैव बको गृध्रो भवेन्नरः । अयोनिगो वृको हि स्यादुलूकः क्रयवञ्चनात् ॥ २,४६.
By selling what should not be sold, a man becomes a crane or a vulture; by being born from an improper womb, he becomes a wolf; by cheating in sales, he becomes an owl.
मृतस्यैकादशाहे तु भुञ्जानश्चाभिजायते । प्रतिश्रुत्य द्विजेभ्योर्ऽथमददज्जम्बुको भवेत् ॥ २,४६.
One who eats during the eleven days after a death is reborn accordingly; one who promises wealth to Brahmins and does not give becomes a jackal.
राज्ञरिं गत्वा भवेद्दंष्ट्री तस्करो विङ्वराहकः । शारिवा फलविक्रेता वृषश्च वृषलीपतिः ॥ २,४६.
One who goes to the king's enemy becomes a tusked animal; a thief becomes a viṅvarāhaka; a seller of śārivā fruits becomes a bull; the husband of a low-caste woman becomes a bull.
मार्जरोऽग्निं पदा स्पृष्ट्वा रोगवान्परमांसभुक् । उदक्यागमनात्षण्डो दुर्गन्धश्च सुगन्धहृत् ॥ २,४६.
A cat that touches fire with its foot becomes diseased and eats flesh; one who goes to a woman in her period becomes impotent; one who steals fragrance becomes foul-smelling.
यद्वा तद्वापि पारक्यं स्वल्पं वा हरते बहु । हृत्वा वै योनिमाप्नोति तिरश्चां नात्र संशयः ॥ २,४६.
Whether it is much or little, whoever takes what belongs to another attains the womb of animals—of this there is no doubt.
एवमादीनि चिह्नानि अन्यान्यपि खगेश्वर । स्वकर्मविततान्येव? दृश्यन्ते यैस्तु मानवैः ॥ २,४६.
O lord of birds, such are the signs, and others as well, seen among men, which arise from their own actions.
एवं दुष्कृतकर्मा हि भुक्त्वा च नरकान्क्रमात् । जायते कर्मशेषेण उक्तास्वेतासु योनिषु ॥ २,४६.
Thus, one who has performed evil deeds, after experiencing hells in order, is born, by the remainder of his karma, in the wombs mentioned above.
ततो जन्मशतं मर्त्ये सर्वजन्तुषु काश्यप । जायते नात्र सन्देहः समीभूते शुभाशुभे ॥ २,४६.
Then, for a hundred births among all creatures on earth, O Kāśyapa, one is born—there is no doubt—when merit and demerit are equal.
स्त्रीपुंसयो प्रसङ्गेन निरुद्धे शुक्रसोणिते । समुपेतः पञ्चभूतैर्जायते पाञ्चभौतिकः ॥ २,४६.
When the semen and blood of man and woman are joined, and the five elements are present, a being composed of the five elements is born.
इन्द्रियाणि मनः प्राणा ज्ञानमायुः सुखं धृतिः । धारणा प्रेरणं दुः खं मिथ्याहङ्कार एव च ॥ २,४६.
The senses, mind, vital breath, knowledge, lifespan, happiness, fortitude, retention, impulse, suffering, and false ego are all present.
प्रयताकृतिवर्णस्तु रागद्वेषौ भवाभवौ । तस्येदमात्मनः सर्वमनादेरादिमिच्छतः ॥ २,४६.
The embodied self, endowed with a body formed by its own actions, experiences attachment and aversion, birth and death; all this belongs to the self who, though without beginning, desires a beginning.
स्वकर्म बद्धस्य तदा गर्भवृद्धिर्भवेदिति । पुरा यथा मया प्रोक्तं तव जन्तोर्हि लक्षणम् ॥ २,४६.
For one bound by his own actions, then, the growth of the embryo occurs, as I have previously described to you, along with the characteristics of the living being.