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ŚB 10.10.11

Devanagari

देह: किमन्नदातु: स्वं निषेक्तुर्मातुरेव च ।
मातु: पितुर्वा बलिन: क्रेतुरग्ने: शुनोऽपि वा ॥ ११ ॥

Text

dehaḥ kim anna-dātuḥ svaṁ
niṣektur mātur eva ca
mātuḥ pitur vā balinaḥ
kretur agneḥ śuno ’pi vā

Synonyms

dehaḥ — this body; kim anna-dātuḥ — does it belong to the employer who gives me the money to maintain it; svam — or does it belong to me personally; niṣektuḥ — (or does it belong) to the person who discharged the semen; mātuḥ eva — (or does it belong) to the mother who maintained this body within her womb; ca — and; mātuḥ pituḥ — or (does it belong) to the father of the mother (because sometimes the father of the mother takes a grandson as an adopted son); balinaḥ — (or does it belong) to the person who takes this body away by force; kretuḥ — or to the person who purchases the body as a slave; agneḥ — or to the fire (because ultimately the body is burned); śunaḥ — or to the dogs and vultures that ultimately eat it; api — even; — or.

Translation

While alive, does this body belong to its employer, to the self, to the father, the mother, or the mother’s father? Does it belong to the person who takes it away by force, to the slave master who purchases it, or to the sons who burn it in the fire? Or, if the body is not burned, does it belong to the dogs that eat it? Among the many possible claimants, who is the rightful claimant? Not to ascertain this but instead to maintain the body by sinful activities is not good.