SB 3.31.8

SB 3.31.8

Devanagari

उल्बेन संवृतस्तस्मिन्नन्त्रैश्च बहिरावृत: । आस्ते कृत्वा शिर: कुक्षौ भुग्नपृष्ठशिरोधर: ॥ ८ ॥

Verse text

ulbena saṁvṛtas tasminn antraiś ca bahir āvṛtaḥ āste kṛtvā śiraḥ kukṣau bhugna-pṛṣṭha-śirodharaḥ

Synonyms

ulbena by the amnion ; saṁvṛtaḥ enclosed ; tasmin in that place ; antraiḥ by the intestines ; ca and ; bahiḥ outside ; āvṛtaḥ covered ; āste he lies ; kṛtvā having put ; śiraḥ the head ; kukṣau towards the belly ; bhugna bent ; pṛṣṭha back ; śiraḥ dharaḥ — neck .

Translation

Placed within the amnion and covered outside by the intestines, the child remains lying on one side of the abdomen, his head turned towards his belly and his back and neck arched like a bow.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

The fetus remains there, surrounded by a covering and outside that, by the entrails. Its head is near its stomach, with bent neck and back. Its neck and back are crooked because of the covering.

Purport

If a grown man were put into such a condition as the child within the abdomen, completely entangled in all respects, it would be impossible for him to live even for a few seconds. Unfortunately, we forget all these sufferings and try to be happy in this life, not caring for the liberation of the soul from the entanglement of birth and death. It is an unfortunate civilization in which these matters are not plainly discussed to make people understand the precarious condition of material existence.