Devanagari
द्रव्योपलब्धिस्थानस्य द्रव्येक्षायोग्यता यदा ।
तत्पञ्चत्वमहंमानादुत्पत्तिर्द्रव्यदर्शनम् ॥ ४५ ॥
यथाक्ष्णोर्द्रव्यावयवदर्शनायोग्यता यदा ।
तदैव चक्षुषो द्रष्टुर्द्रष्टृत्वायोग्यतानयो: ॥ ४६ ॥
Verse text
dravyopalabdhi-sthānasya
dravyekṣāyogyatā yadā
tat paṣcatvam ahaṁ-mānād
utpattir dravya-darśanam
yathākṣṇor dravyāvayava-
darśanāyogyatā yadā
tadaiva cakṣuṣo draṣṭur
draṣṭṛtvāyogyatānayoḥ
Synonyms
dravya
—
of objects
;
upalabdhi
—
of perception
;
sthānasya
—
of the place
;
dravya
—
of objects
;
īkṣā
—
of perception
;
ayogyatā
—
incapability
;
yadā
—
when
;
tat
—
that
;
paṣcatvam
—
death
;
aham
—
mānāt — from the misconception of “I”
;
utpattiḥ
—
birth
;
dravya
—
the physical body
;
darśanam
—
viewing
;
yathā
—
just as
;
akṣṇoḥ
—
of the eyes
;
dravya
—
of objects
;
avayava
—
parts
;
darśana
—
of seeing
;
ayogyatā
—
incapability
;
yadā
—
when
;
tadā
—
then
;
eva
—
indeed
;
cakṣuṣaḥ
—
of the sense of sight
;
draṣṭuḥ
—
of the seer
;
draṣṭṛtva
—
of the faculty of seeing
;
ayogyatā
—
incapability
;
anayoḥ
—
of both of these .
Translation
When the eyes lose their power to see color or form due to morbid affliction of the optic nerve, the sense of sight becomes deadened. The living entity, who is the seer of both the eyes and the sight, loses his power of vision. In the same way, when the physical body, the place where perception of objects occurs, is rendered incapable of perceiving, that is known as death. When one begins to view the physical body as one’s very self, that is called birth.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
When gross objects of the earth cannot be perceived by the gross organ of perception because the gross body has been destroyed, it is called death (even though the subtle organ still exists). By identifying with another gross, body birth takes place. This is the cause of seeing gross objects again. Similarly, when the gross eye ball becomes incapable of seeing gross objects because of disease, the subtle eye sense organ of a person becomes incapable of seeing.
The characteristics of death and birth are again clarified. In this example, dravya means objects situated on this earth. When the gross body, the place of perceiving the objects, is destroyed and the subtle body is incapable of perceiving those objects on its own after the dissolution of the gross body, that state is called death (paṣcatvam) for the jīva, though it is not his nature. Birth arises because of the appearance of the identity with another gross body, with the thought that “I am this body.” This is the cause of seeing objects on this earth (dravya-darśanam).
An example is given. When the eye balls (gross matter) are unable to see parts of objects because of destruction in the form of eye disease, then the eye sense organ (subtle) also cannot see. When both the gross organ and the subtle organ are incapable, then the seer becomes incapable of acting as a seer. That incapacity takes place on this earth, not in Svarga or hell. From understanding the explanation given in the example, the appearance and destruction of gross bodies in Svarga and hell are not really birth and death. They are simply called disappearance and appearance of the gross and subtle bodies.
Purport
When one says, “I see,” this means that he sees with his eyes or with his spectacles; he sees with the instrument of sight. If the instrument of sight is broken or becomes diseased or incapable of acting, then he, as the seer, also ceases to act. Similarly, in this material body, at the present moment the living soul is acting, and when the material body, due to its incapability to function, ceases, he also ceases to perform his reactionary activities. When one’s instrument of action is broken and cannot function, that is called death. Again, when one gets a new instrument for action, that is called birth. This process of birth and death is going on at every moment, by constant bodily change. The final change is called death, and acceptance of a new body is called birth. That is the solution to the question of birth and death. Actually, the living entity has neither birth nor death, but is eternal. As confirmed in
Bhagavad-gītā,
na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre:
the living entity never dies, even after the death or annihilation of this material body.