Devanagari
कृमिविड्भस्मनिष्ठान्तं क्वेदं तुच्छं कलेवरम् ।
क्व तदीयरतिर्भार्या क्वायमात्मा नभश्छदि: ॥ १३ ॥
Verse text
kṛmi-viḍ-bhasma-niṣṭhāntaṁ
kvedaṁ tucchaṁ kalevaram
kva tadīya-ratir bhāryā
kvāyam ātmā nabhaś-chadiḥ
Synonyms
kṛmi
—
insects, germs
;
viṭ
—
stool
;
bhasma
—
ashes
;
niṣṭha
—
attachment
;
antam
—
at the end
;
kva
—
what is
;
idam
—
this (body)
;
tuccham
—
very insignificant
;
kalevaram
—
material tabernacle
;
kva
—
what is that
;
tadīya
—
ratiḥ — attraction for that body
;
bhāryā
—
wife
;
kva ayam
—
what is the value of this body
;
ātmā
—
the Supreme Soul
;
nabhaḥ
—
chadiḥ — all-pervading like the sky .
Translation
Through proper deliberation, one should give up attraction to his wife’s body because that body will ultimately be transformed into small insects, stool or ashes. What is the value of this insignificant body? How much greater is the Supreme Being, who is all-pervading like the sky?
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
What is this insignificant body which finally ends in worms, stool or ashes? What is this attraction to the body of a wife? What value is the wife in comparison to the Supreme Lord who covers the sky?
This verse gives the logic for giving up attachment to wife. Her body finally ends (niṣṭhā) in worms, stool or ashes. What is the attachment to the wife’s body (tadīyā-ratiḥ)? What is the Supreme Lord (ātmā) who covers even the sky? This means “If one attains the Lord by giving up attachment to the wife, so much more is gained.”
Purport
Here also, the same point is stressed: one should give up attachment for his wife — or, in other words, for sex life. If one is intelligent, he can think of his wife’s body as nothing but a lump of matter that will ultimately be transformed into small insects, stool or ashes. In different societies there are different ways of dealing with the human body at the time of the funeral ceremony. In some societies the body is given to the vultures to be eaten, and therefore the body ultimately turns to vulture stool. Sometimes the body is merely abandoned, and in that case the body is consumed by small insects. In some societies the body is immediately burned after death, and thus it becomes ashes. In any case, if one intelligently considers the constitution of the body and the soul beyond it, what is the value of the body?
Antavanta ime dehā nityasyoktāḥ śarīriṇaḥ:
the body may perish at any moment, but the soul is eternal. If one gives up attachment for the body and increases his attachment for the spirit soul, his life is successful. It is merely a matter of deliberation.