Devanagari
कृमिविड्भस्मसंज्ञासीद्यस्येशाभिहितस्य च ।
भूतध्रुक् तत्कृते स्वार्थं किं वेद निरयो यत: ॥ २५ ॥
Verse text
kṛmi-viḍ-bhasma-saṁjṣāsīd
yasyeśābhihitasya ca
bhūta-dhruk tat-kṛte svārthaṁ
kiṁ veda nirayo yataḥ
Synonyms
kṛmi
—
worms
;
viṭ
—
stool
;
bhasma
—
ashes
;
saṁjṣā
—
name
;
āsīt
—
becomes
;
yasya
—
of which (body)
;
īśa
—
abhihitasya — although designated as king
;
ca
—
also
;
bhūta
—
dhruk — he who harms others
;
tat
—
kṛte — for the sake of that
;
sva
—
artham — his self-interest
;
kim veda
—
does he know
;
nirayaḥ
—
punishment in hell
;
yataḥ
—
from which .
Translation
When dead, the bodies of all the rulers known as kings and great leaders will be transformed into worms, stool or ashes. If one enviously kills others for the protection of such a body, does he actually know the true interest of life? Certainly he does not, for if one is envious of other entities, he surely goes to hell.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
For maintaining his body which has been defined as worms, stool and ashes, the king, in committing violence, does not know his own benefit, since he will go to hell as a result.
After death the body of he who is called a king, if remaining for two or three days becomes worms. If eaten by dogs, it becomes stool. If it is burned by sons, it becomes ashes. That has been the definition of the body of a king, since this has been seen from examples of previous kings. Past tense is used.
Does one who commits violence to other beings, for maintaining his body, know his own benefit? He does not, because he goes to hell. This implies that Indra is without intelligence. She also is without intelligence because she wants to kill Indra. One can see that both she and Indra commit violence, both are hard-hearted, and both do not know their own benefit. In this way a person with real intelligence can determine the lack of discernment of unintelligent people.
Purport
The material body, even if possessed by a great king, is ultimately transformed into stool, worms or ashes. When one is too attached to the bodily conception of life, he is certainly not very intelligent.