Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.51.50
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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rathaiḥ-hema-pariṣkṛtaiḥ
—
in gold-furnished chariots
Phrase: rathaiḥ (chariots) + hema (gold) + pariṣkṛtaiḥ (decorated). The kṣatriya-glamour. Vaiṣṇavas use this imagery without scorn — Arjuna's chariot has Kṛṣṇa as charioteer; the issue is not opulence but ownership.
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nara-deva
—
king (god among men)
Same compound as verse 48 — but now used as the past title that bodily decay un-makes. The Bhāgavata's editorial: every nara-deva eventually becomes nara-kalevara, and then less.
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kālena-duratyayena
—
by unavoidable time
Phrase: kālena (by time) + duratyayena (uncrossable). The same kāla of verse 19 — Bhagavān-as-Time. Vaiṣṇavas read this as why kāla cannot be 'managed' from inside saṁsāra: it is the Lord's executive form.
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viṭ-kṛmi-bhasma-saṁjñitaḥ
—
named as feces, worms, ashes
Compound: viṭ (feces) + kṛmi (worms) + bhasma (ashes) + saṁjñitaḥ (named). The body's three terminal forms — buried (worms), exposed (feces, decomposing), cremated (ashes). The verse uses the same bhasma word that named Kālayavana's end (verses 12, 22, 33). Every body shares the asura's exit.
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kalevaraḥ
—
the body
Same word as verse 48 — explicitly chosen to mark the body as already corpse-tending. The whole verse is the kalevara's biography in one breath.
In the United States and other materially developed countries, dead bodies are cosmetically disposed of in a tidy ceremonial way, but in many parts of the world old, sickly and injured people die in lonely or neglected places, where dogs and jackals consume their bodies and transform them into stool. And if one is so blessed as to be buried in a coffin, one’s body may very well be consumed by worms and other minuscule creatures. Also, many earthly cadavers are burned and thus transformed into ashes. In any case, death is certain, and the ultimate fate of the body is never sublime. That is the real purport of Mucukunda’s statement here — that the body, though now called “king,” “prince,” “beauty queen,” “upper-middle class” and so on, will eventually be called “stool,” “worms” and “ashes.” Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī quotes the following Vedic statement: yoneḥ sahasrāṇi bahūni gatvā duḥkhena labdhvāpi ca mānuṣatvam sukhāvahaṁ ye na bhajanti viṣṇuṁ te vai manuṣyātmani śatru-bhūtāḥ “After passing through many thousands of species and undergoing great struggle, the conditioned living entities finally obtain the human form. Thus those human beings who still do not worship Lord Viṣṇu, who can bring them real happiness, have certainly become enemies of both themselves and humanity.”
This verse described the body devoured by time. That person who wandered about on a chariot or elephant famous as a king, is devoured by unavoidable death and then takes the disgusting form of stool, worms and ashes.
In dying the body will take a ghastly form. This is described with disgust. The body which was moving on a chariot becomes ashes etc. by the force of your (te) time. Using the masculine for kalevaram is poetic license. Time cannot be stopped by any means such as sacrifices or yoga (duratyayena) because it is your aṁśa (te).
- What flattering names for your body do you cherish that decay will replace?
- Where could anticipating final names quiet present pride?
The body that today rides a gold-furnished chariot is tomorrow called feces, worms, or ashes. Mucukunda reads the body's biography in advance — three identical noun-forms, three terminal stations. Vaiṣṇava clear-sightedness as antidote to dehātma-buddhi.
My note
Source: vedabase.io