Vidura Describes the Soul's Journey from the Womb to Death

Verse 1 (11.4.1)

कथं संसारगहनं विज्ञेयं वदतां वर । एतदिच्छाम्यहं श्रोतुं तत्त्वमाख्याहि पृच्छतः ॥

kathaṃ saṃsāragahanaṃ vijñeyaṃ vadatāṃ vara | etadicchāmyahaṃ śrotuṃ tattvamākhyāhi pṛcchataḥ

How is the dense forest of rebirth to be understood, O best of speakers? I wish to hear this. Tell me the truth, as I ask.

Verse 2 (11.4.2)

जन्मप्रभृति भूतानां क्रियाः सर्वास्तु लक्षयन् । पूर्वमेवेह कलिले वसते किञ्चिदन्तरम् ॥

janmaprabhṛti bhūtānāṃ kriyāḥ sarvāstu lakṣayan | pūrvameveha kalile vasate kiñcidantaram

Observing all the stages that beings go through from birth: first it dwells for a short while in the kalala, the earliest embryo.

Note on the text: A recension variant of 11.4.2a (the critical edition has kriyāḥ sarvāḥ śṛṇu prabho for क्रियाः सर्वास्तु लक्षयन्).

Verse 3 (11.4.3)

ततः स पञ्चमेऽतीते मासे मांसमकल्पयत् । ततः सर्वाङ्गसम्पूर्णो गर्भो मासे तु जायते ॥

tataḥ sa pañcame'tīte māse māṃsamakalpayat | tataḥ sarvāṅgasampūrṇo garbho māse tu jāyate

Then, when the fifth month has passed, it forms flesh; and then the embryo, complete in all its limbs, is born when its month comes.

Verse 4 (11.4.4)

अमेध्यमध्ये वसति मांसशोणितलेपने । ततस्तु वायुवेगेन ऊर्ध्वपादो ह्यधोमुखः ॥

amedhyamadhye vasati māṃsaśoṇitalepane | tatastu vāyuvegena ūrdhvapādo hyadhomukhaḥ

It lives in filth, smeared with flesh and blood; then, by the force of the wind, it hangs feet up and head down.

Verse 5 (11.4.5)

योनिद्वारमुपागम्य बहून्क्लेशान्समृच्छति । योनिसंपीडनाच्चैव पूर्वकर्मभिरन्वितः ॥

yonidvāramupāgamya bahūnkleśānsamṛcchati | yonisaṃpīḍanāccaiva pūrvakarmabhiranvitaḥ

Reaching the door of the womb, it suffers many pains, squeezed by the womb and bound up with its past deeds.

Verse 6 (11.4.6)

तस्मान्मुक्तः स संसारादन्यान्पश्यत्युपद्रवान् । ग्रहास्तमनुगच्छन्ति सारमेया इवामिषम् ॥

tasmānmuktaḥ sa saṃsārādanyānpaśyatyupadravān | grahāstamanugacchanti sārameyā ivāmiṣam

Freed from that, he sees other afflictions in the world: the seizing spirits follow him as dogs follow a scrap of meat.

Note on the text: Corrected ग्रहास्तमनुच्छन्ति → ग्रहास्तमनुगच्छन्ति (misprint in Wikisource; a dropped akshara; the critical edition has grahās tam upasarpanti, a different word, so the smallest fix is adopted).

Verse 7 (11.4.7)

ततः कालान्तरे प्राप्ते व्याधयश्चापि तं तथा । उपसर्पन्ति जीवन्तं बध्यमानं स्वकर्मभिः ॥

tataḥ kālāntare prāpte vyādhayaścāpi taṃ tathā | upasarpanti jīvantaṃ badhyamānaṃ svakarmabhiḥ

Then, as time passes, diseases too draw near him as he lives, bound by his own deeds.

Verse 8 (11.4.8)

बद्धमिन्द्रियपाशैस्तं सङ्गकामुकमातुरम् । व्यसनान्यनुवर्तन्ते विविधानि नराधिप ॥

baddhamindriyapāśaistaṃ saṅgakāmukamāturam | vyasanānyanuvartante vividhāni narādhipa

Bound by the cords of the senses, attached, lustful and afflicted, he is followed by calamities of many kinds, O lord of men.

Note on the text: Lines match 11.4.8a, 8c (recension variant: सङ्गकामुकम् for saṅgasvādubhiḥ); the critical edition's third line 8e is the first line of the next verse here.

Verse 9 (11.4.9)

बाध्यमानश्च तैर्भूयो नैव तृप्तिमुपैति सः । तदा नावैति चैवायं प्रकुर्वन्साध्वसाधु वा ॥

bādhyamānaśca tairbhūyo naiva tṛptimupaiti saḥ | tadā nāvaiti caivāyaṃ prakurvansādhvasādhu vā

Tormented by them again and again, he is never satisfied; and then he does not know, in all that he does, whether it is good or bad.

Note on the text: Removed a stray wiki mark [ (not part of the text). Removed a stray wiki mark ] and a stray ।। (not part of the text). Line 1 is 11.4.8e; line 2 is a recension variant of the star line 11.4.8f*0015_01 (tadā na vetti caivāyaṃ prakurvan sādhv asādhunī). Not in the critical edition's constituted text beyond line 1.

Verse 10 (11.4.10)

तत्रैनं परिपश्यन्ति ये ध्यानपरिनिष्ठिताः । अयं न बुध्यते तावद्यमलोकादिहागमे ॥

tatrainaṃ paripaśyanti ye dhyānapariniṣṭhitāḥ | ayaṃ na budhyate tāvadyamalokādihāgame

Those who are established in meditation look on him there; but he does not understand that he has come here from the world of Yama.

Note on the text: Line 1 is a recension variant of the star line 11.4.8f*0016_01 (tathaiva parirakṣyanti ye dhyānapariniṣṭhitāḥ); line 2 is a recension variant of 11.4.9a (ayaṃ na budhyate tāvad yamalokam athāgatam).

Verse 11 (11.4.11)

यमदूतैर्विकृष्यंश्च मृत्युं कालेन गच्छति । वाग्घीनस्य च या मात्रा इष्टानिष्टकृताऽस्य वै । भूय एवात्मनाऽऽत्मानं बध्यमानमुपैति सः ॥

yamadūtairvikṛṣyaṃśca mṛtyuṃ kālena gacchati | vāgghīnasya ca yā mātrā iṣṭāniṣṭakṛtā'sya vai | bhūya evātmanā''tmānaṃ badhyamānamupaiti saḥ

Dragged along by Yama's messengers, he reaches death in time. When his speech fails, whatever portion of pleasant and unpleasant deeds he has made remains, and he comes again to bondage, binding himself by himself.

Note on the text: Line 1 is 11.4.9c; lines 2–3 are recension variants of 11.4.10a and 10c (the critical edition has vāgghīnasya ca yanmātram iṣṭāniṣṭaṃ kṛtaṃ mukhe / bhūya evātmanātmānaṃ badhyamānam upekṣate).

Verse 12 (11.4.12)

अहो विनिकृतो लोको लोभेन च वशीकृतः । लोभक्रोधमदोन्मत्तो नात्मानमवबुध्यते ॥

aho vinikṛto loko lobhena ca vaśīkṛtaḥ | lobhakrodhamadonmatto nātmānamavabudhyate

Ah, the world is cheated and mastered by greed; mad with greed, anger and pride, it does not know itself.

Verse 13 (11.4.13)

कुलीनत्वे च रमते दुष्कुलीनान्विकुत्सयन् । धनदर्पेण दृप्तश्च दरिद्रान्परिकुत्सयन् ॥

kulīnatve ca ramate duṣkulīnānvikutsayan | dhanadarpeṇa dṛptaśca daridrānparikutsayan

He delights in his high birth while despising the lowborn, and, proud of his wealth, scorns the poor.

Verse 14 (11.4.14)

मूर्खानिति परानाह नात्मानं समवेक्षते । दोषान्क्षिपति चान्येषां नात्मानं शास्तुमिच्छति ॥

mūrkhāniti parānāha nātmānaṃ samavekṣate | doṣānkṣipati cānyeṣāṃ nātmānaṃ śāstumicchati

He calls others fools but does not look at himself; he throws the faults of others at them but does not wish to correct himself.

Note on the text: Line 2 is a recension variant of 11.4.13c (the critical edition has śikṣāṃ kṣipati cānyeṣāṃ).

Verse 15 (11.4.15)

यदा प्राज्ञाश्च मूर्खाश्च धनवन्तश्च निर्धनाः । कुलीनाश्चाकुलीनाश्च मानिनोऽथाप्यमानिनः ॥

yadā prājñāśca mūrkhāśca dhanavantaśca nirdhanāḥ | kulīnāścākulīnāśca mānino'thāpyamāninaḥ

When the wise and the foolish, the rich and the poor, the high-born and the low-born, the proud and the humble,

Note on the text: Not in the critical edition's constituted text (found in the vulgate recension); the critical edition records it as the star passage 11.4.13d*0017 (lines 01–02).

Verse 16 (11.4.16)

सर्वे पितृवनं प्राप्ताः स्वपन्ति विगतत्वचः । निर्मांसैरस्थिभूयिष्ठैर्गात्रैः स्नायुनिबन्धनैः ॥

sarve pitṛvanaṃ prāptāḥ svapanti vigatatvacaḥ | nirmāṃsairasthibhūyiṣṭhairgātraiḥ snāyunibandhanaiḥ

have all reached the forest of the ancestors and lie asleep, their skin gone, their limbs fleshless, mostly bone, held together by sinews,

Note on the text: Not in the critical edition's constituted text (found in the vulgate recension); the critical edition records it as the star passage 11.4.13d*0017 (lines 03–04).

Verse 17 (11.4.17)

किं विशेषं प्रपश्यन्ति तत्र तेषां परे जनाः । येन प्रत्यवगच्छेयुः कुलरूपविशेषणम् ॥

kiṃ viśeṣaṃ prapaśyanti tatra teṣāṃ pare janāḥ | yena pratyavagaccheyuḥ kularūpaviśeṣaṇam

what distinction do other people see among them there, by which they could tell family and beauty apart?

Note on the text: Not in the critical edition's constituted text (found in the vulgate recension); the critical edition records it as the star passage 11.4.13d*0017 (lines 05–06).

Verse 18 (11.4.18)

यदा सर्वे समं न्यस्ताः स्वपन्ति धरणीतले । कस्मादन्योन्यमिच्छन्ति विप्रलब्धुमिहाबुधाः ॥

yadā sarve samaṃ nyastāḥ svapanti dharaṇītale | kasmādanyonyamicchanti vipralabdhumihābudhāḥ

When all are laid alike on the ground and sleep on the earth, why do the foolish here try to cheat one another?

Note on the text: Not in the critical edition's constituted text (found in the vulgate recension); the critical edition records it as the star passage 11.4.13d*0017 (lines 07–08).

Verse 19 (11.4.19)

प्रत्यक्षं च परोक्षं च यो निशम्य श्रुतिं त्विमाम् । अध्रुवे जीवलोकेऽस्मिन्यो धर्ममनुपालयन् । जन्मप्रभृति वर्तेत प्राप्नुयात्परमां गतिम् ॥

pratyakṣaṃ ca parokṣaṃ ca yo niśamya śrutiṃ tvimām | adhruve jīvaloke'sminyo dharmamanupālayan | janmaprabhṛti varteta prāpnuyātparamāṃ gatim

Whoever, having heard this teaching about the seen and the unseen, follows dharma in this impermanent world of the living from birth onward, will reach the highest goal.

Note on the text: Removed the stray wiki marks [ ] that the page prints around line 2 (not part of the text), and a stray ।. Line 1 is the star line 11.4.13d*0017_09 (pratyakṣaṃ ca parokṣaṃ ca yo niśamya śrutiṃ tv imām); lines 2–3 are 11.4.14a, 14c. Not in the critical edition's constituted text for line 1 (found in the vulgate recension).

Verse 20 (11.4.20)

एवं सर्वं विदित्वा वै यस्तत्त्वमनुवर्तते । स प्रमोक्षयते चैव पन्थानं मनुजेश्वर ॥

evaṃ sarvaṃ viditvā vai yastattvamanuvartate | sa pramokṣayate caiva panthānaṃ manujeśvara

He who understands all this and follows the truth sets out on the path to liberation, O lord of men.

Note on the text: A recension variant of 11.4.15c (the critical edition has sa pramokṣāya labhate panthānaṃ manujādhipa).