Devanagari
देह्यन्यदेहविवरे जठराग्निनासृग्-
विण्मूत्रकूपपतितो भृशतप्तदेह: ।
इच्छन्नितो विवसितुं गणयन्स्वमासान्
निर्वास्यते कृपणधीर्भगवन्कदा नु ॥ १७ ॥
Verse text
dehy anya-deha-vivare jaṭharāgnināsṛg-
viṇ-mūtra-kūpa-patito bhṛśa-tapta-dehaḥ
icchann ito vivasituṁ gaṇayan sva-māsān
nirvāsyate kṛpaṇa-dhīr bhagavan kadā nu
Synonyms
dehī
—
the embodied soul
;
anya
—
deha — of another body
;
vivare
—
in the abdomen
;
jaṭhara
—
of the stomach
;
agninā
—
by the fire
;
asṛk
—
of blood
;
viṭ
—
stool
;
mūtra
—
and urine
;
kūpa
—
in a pool
;
patitaḥ
—
fallen
;
bhṛśa
—
strongly
;
tapta
—
scorched
;
dehaḥ
—
his body
;
icchan
—
desiring
;
itaḥ
—
from that place
;
vivasitum
—
to get out
;
gaṇayan
—
counting
;
svamāsān
—
his months
;
nirvāsyate
—
will be released
;
kṛpaṇa
—
dhīḥ — person of miserly intelligence
;
bhagavan
—
O Lord
;
kadā
—
when
;
nu
—
indeed .
Translation
Fallen into a pool of blood, stool and urine within the abdomen of his mother, his own body scorched by the mother’s gastric fire, the embodied soul, anxious to get out, counts his months and prays, “O my Lord, when shall I, a wretched soul, be released from this confinement?”
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The foolish jīva, situated in the body, within the body of his mother, his body suffering greatly, trapped in the hole filled with stool, urine, blood and the digestive fire, desiring to get out, counts the months. “O Lord! When will I get out of this place?”
O Lord! My happiness and distress, and attaining your lotus feet are all dependent on you. What can I ask for, since I am so childish and young? In this way he speaks to the Lord. I, situated in this body (dehi), am situated within another body, that of my mother, desiring to be free (vivasitum) from this (itaḥ), counting my months. “This is the eighth month, this is the ninth month, this is the tenth month.” I have no intelligence (kṛpaṇa-dhīḥ), since my happiness and distress have been given by my fate (caused by myself). When will I get out of this place? Because the difficulties cannot be tolerated within the womb, I will worship you outside.
Purport
The precarious condition of the living entity within the womb of his mother is described here. On one side of where the child is floating is the heat of gastric fire, and on the other side are urine, stool, blood and discharges. After seven months the child, who has regained his consciousness, feels the horrible condition of his existence and prays to the Lord. Counting the months until his release, he becomes greatly anxious to get out of the confinement. The so-called civilized man does not take account of this horrible condition of life, and sometimes, for the purpose of sense gratification, he tries to kill the child by methods of contraception or abortion. Unserious about the horrible condition in the womb, such persons continue in materialism, grossly misusing the chance of the human form of life.
The word
kṛpaṇa-dhīḥ
is significant in this verse.
Dhī
means “intelligence,” and
kṛpaṇa
means “miserly.” Conditional life is for persons who are of miserly intelligence or who do not properly utilize their intelligence. In the human form of life the intelligence is developed, and one has to utilize that developed intelligence to get out of the cycle of birth and death. One who does not do so is a miser, just like a person who has immense wealth but does not utilize it, keeping it simply to see. A person who does not actually utilize his human intelligence to get out of the clutches of
māyā,
the cycle of birth and death, is accepted as miserly. The exact opposite of miserly is
udāra,
“very magnanimous.” A
brāhmaṇa
is called
udāra
because he utilizes his human intelligence for spiritual realization. He uses that intelligence to preach Kṛṣṇa consciousness for the benefit of the public, and therefore he is magnanimous.