Devanagari
कृमिविड्भस्मसंज्ञान्ते राजनाम्नोऽपि यस्य च ।
भूतध्रुक् तत्कृते स्वार्थं किं वेद निरयो यत: ॥ ४१ ॥
Verse text
kṛmi-viḍ-bhasma-saṁjṣānte
rāja-nāmno ’pi yasya ca
bhūta-dhruk tat-kṛte svārthaṁ
kiṁ veda nirayo yataḥ
Synonyms
kṛmi
—
of worms
;
viṭ
—
stool
;
bhasma
—
and ashes
;
saṁjṣā
—
the designation
;
ante
—
in the end
;
rāja
—
nāmnaḥ — going by the name “king”
;
api
—
even though
;
yasya
—
of which (body)
;
ca
—
and
;
bhūta
—
of living beings
;
dhruk
—
an enemy
;
tat
—
kṛte — for the sake of that body
;
sva
—
artham — his own best interest
;
kim
—
what
;
veda
—
does he know
;
nirayaḥ
—
punishment in hell
;
yataḥ
—
because of which .
Translation
Even though a person’s body may now have the designation “king,” in the end its name will be “worms,” “stool” or “ashes.” What can a person who injures other living beings for the sake of his body know about his own self-interest, since his activities are simply leading him to hell?
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Even though a person's body may now have the designation "king," in the end its name will be "worms," "stool" or "ashes." What can a person who injures other living beings for the sake of his body know about his own self-interest, since his activities simply lead him to hell?
He who is known by the name of “king” after death is known by the names “worms,” “stool,” and “ashes.” He commits violence for the sake of his body (tat-kṛte).
Purport
After death, the body may be buried and eaten by worms, or it may be thrown in the street or forest to be eaten by animals who will pass out its remnants as stool, or it may be burned and converted into ashes. Therefore one should not pave his way to hell by using his temporary body to injure the bodies of other living beings. In this verse the word
bhūta
includes nonhuman life forms, who are also creatures of God. One should give up all envious violence and learn to see God in everything by the process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.