O best of men, listen with care to the workings of karma: every deed, whether virtuous or sinful, persists, its imprint remaining undestroyed even across hundreds of millions of aeons. No action—regardless of whether its fruits have been enjoyed or not—ever truly vanishes. The eternal soul must experience the results of all actions, reaping their fruits in full measure. Indeed, it is this soul who creates, protects, and ultimately consumes all creation, standing as both the enjoyer and the cause of dissolution for all that exists. Consider now the beings known as 'immovables'—the plants and trees rooted to the earth. They are enveloped in a great delusion. In their earthly state, seeds are produced; when watered and exposed to the sun’s heat, these seeds swell, sprout roots, and from those roots arise shoots. Leaves, stalks, and stems unfold, and in time, flowers bloom upon the stalks. Among these flowers, some bear fruit, others do not; some merely serve as the cause for fruit. As the flowers mature, husks form at their roots. Within these husks, through the interplay of the enjoyers’ actions and the sun’s rays, the plant’s essence enters, becomes milk, and eventually, in due time, takes the form of rice. By the actions of those who partake, these grains ripen in a year and become fruitful. But the journey does not end here. The rice grains, transformed by karma, become worms—creatures afflicted with intense suffering. Their lives are fleeting, lasting but half a moment before death overtakes them. They are powerless against the torment inflicted by other beings, beset by cold, wind, hunger, thirst, and forced to wander amidst filth and urine, enduring ceaseless pain. From this state, some enter the womb of beings born from the lotus, enduring even greater agony. They are wracked by pain, filled with useless anxiety, always hungry and thirsty, wandering in forests—even among their mothers—driven by the senses and afflicted by wind and other torments. In some births, they consume grass; in others, flesh and impure things; in yet others, roots, tubers, and fruits. They harm weaker beings and suffer accordingly. Among those born from eggs, some subsist on wind, flesh, and impure substances, devoted to harming others, and always afflicted by suffering. Even those born as domestic animals endure all kinds of misery: separation from their kind, bearing heavy burdens, being bound, beaten, yoked to ploughs, and so forth. Yet, through special merit, some beings eventually attain human birth. Even then, suffering persists: one may be born as a tanner, outcaste, hunter, sweeper, potter, blacksmith, goldsmith, weaver, tailor, ascetic, mendicant, washerman, scribe, servant, pauper, or one with bodily defects. There is suffering from fever, heat, cold, phlegm, tumors, pain in the feet, eyes, head, womb, sides, and more. Within humanity, the process of birth unfolds thus: when man and woman unite, semen enters the womb, and by the force of karma, the soul enters alongside the semen, beginning to develop within the mixture of semen and blood. The embryo first takes the form of a lump, and after a month, it grows to the size of a finger’s breadth. Though unconscious due to the force of wind, it suffers greatly in the mother’s womb, unable to remain still, tossed about incessantly. At the end of the second month, the form of a human appears; by the third month, limbs such as hands and feet develop; after four months, the joints are distinguished; after five months, nails begin to appear; after six months, the nail joints become clear. Nourished by the navel cord, the body is steeped in impure urine, bound by the womb, and polluted by blood, bones, worms, fat, marrow, sinews, hair, and more. Seeing itself so polluted, scorched by the mother’s intake of pungent, sour, salty, and excessively hot foods, the embodied being—remembering previous births and the sufferings of hell—burns within from inner pain, scorched without by the mother’s body, and thus grieves in its mind. It laments: “Alas, I am extremely sinful! In previous births, out of intense attachment to servants, children, friends, wives, houses, fields, wealth, and grain, I coveted the wealth and fields of others. Driven by desire, I committed great sins such as theft and abducting others’ wives. Because of these sins, I alone have suffered the torments of hell, endured great suffering among plants and other beings, and now find myself enveloped by the womb, burning with pain inside and out. The wives I supported have, by their own karma, gone elsewhere. Suffering truly belongs to embodied beings. For the sake of family, I took the wealth of others. Envy disturbed me whenever I saw another’s prosperity. By body, mind, and speech, I caused harm to others; by such sins, I alone am burned, exceedingly afflicted.” Thus, while still in the womb, the being laments in many ways, either aloud or within. Yet, consoling itself, after birth, through association with the virtuous and hearing the deeds of Viṣṇu, it purifies its mind, performs virtuous acts, and worships with devotion the lotus feet of Lakṣmīpati Nārāyaṇa—the inner soul of all worlds, composed of truth, knowledge, and bliss, whose power upholds all realms, and who is worshipped by gods, demons, yakṣas, gandharvas, rākṣasas, serpents, sages, and kinnaras. Holding in its heart the secret of the Vedas and Upaniṣads—the means to cut the unbearable bondage of saṃsāra—it resolves: “I will cross over this house of suffering, the abode of saṃskāras.” O sage Narada, at the time of birth, the embodied being still in the womb is afflicted by wind, causing pain to its mother, and bound by the fetters of karma, is compelled to exit through the birth passage, thereby experiencing all torments at once. Because of this extreme suffering, pressed by the mechanism of birth, as it emerges from the womb, it falls into unconsciousness. Upon contact with the external air, all the sufferings previously experienced are forgotten due to loss of memory; yet, intense pain persists because knowledge is absent. Thus, entering infancy, the creature, its body smeared with its own excrement and urine, is afflicted by internal and external pains, unable to speak, tormented by hunger and thirst. When it cries, those around offer breast milk and other comforts, thinking it should be soothed. In this way, dependent on others, it experiences many bodily sufferings and is unable even to ward off biting insects and the like. Having reached childhood, it suffers inner pain: beaten by mother, father, or teacher, always wandering about, playing in dust, ashes, and mud, constantly quarreling, being unclean, forced into many activities, and unable to avoid them. Then, in youth, it is greatly troubled by earning wealth, protecting what is acquired, and its inevitable loss and expenditure. Deluded by illusion, corrupted by desire and anger, devoted to envy, intent on seizing others’ wealth and wives, preoccupied with providing for sons, friends, and wives, tainted by vain pride. When children and others are afflicted by disease, abandoning all, it is overwhelmed by inner suffering and approaches the funeral pyre, as will be described. The mind is consumed by anxieties: “How will my prosperous family be maintained? Where has the horse run off to? Why have the cows not returned? The crops are lost due to lack of discernment, and my sons are always weeping. Livelihood cannot be obtained, and the ruler’s oppression is unbearable. I am incapable of enterprise, and my companions are all lazy and unsteady.” Overwhelmed by constant anxiety, unable to dispel its own sufferings, it reproaches fate: “Fie upon destiny! Why did fate create me, so devoid of fortune?” Trembling in all limbs, afflicted by breathlessness, cough, and the like, with restless, clouded eyes, throat choked by phlegm, scolded by sons, wife, and others, it is filled with anxious thoughts: “When will death come to me? After I die, how will my sons and others protect the house, fields, and property I acquired? To whom will they belong?” When wealth is taken away by others, it worries how sons and the rest will survive. Overwhelmed by sorrow and attachment, sighing deeply, it repeatedly remembers and forgets the deeds performed in its lifetime, while death draws ever nearer. Afflicted by disease, burning within, it shifts from bed to cot, tormented by hunger and thirst, begging in utter misery for even a little water. When told by others suffering from fever that water is not beneficial, it feels great resentment in its mind and becomes dull-witted. Such is the journey of the embodied soul, bound by karma, passing through suffering in countless forms, yet ever given the chance to purify itself and seek liberation through devotion, virtuous deeds, and wisdom.