FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.26.57

रेतस्तस्मादाप आसन्निरभिद्यत वै गुदम् । गुदादपानोऽपानाच्च मृत्युर्लोकभयङ्कर: ॥ ५७ ॥
retas tasmād āpa āsan
[retas tasmaad aapa aasan]
nirabhidyata vai gudam
[nirabhidyata vai gudam]
gudād apāno ’pānāc ca
[gudaad apaano ’paanaach cha]
mṛtyur loka-bhayaṅkaraḥ
[mrityur loka-bhayankarah]
retaḥ — semen tasmāt — from that āpaḥ — the god who presides over the waters āsan — appeared nirabhidyata — was manifested vai — indeed gudam — an anus gudāt — from the anus apānaḥ — the organ of defecation apānāt — from the organ of defecation ca — and mṛtyuḥ — death loka-bhayam-karaḥ — causing fear throughout the universe.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
retas tasmād āpa āsan
retaḥ
semen
tasmāt
from that
āpaḥ
the god who presides over the waters
āsan
appeared
nirabhidyata vai gudam
nirabhidyata
was manifested
vai
indeed
gudam
an anus
gudād apāno ’pānāc ca
gudāt
from the anus
apānaḥ
the organ of defecation
apānāt
from the organ of defecation
ca
and
mṛtyur loka-bhayaṅkaraḥ
mṛtyuḥ
death
loka-bhayam-karaḥ
causing fear throughout the universe.
After this, semen (the faculty of procreation) and the god who presides over the waters appeared. Next appeared an anus and then the organs of defecation and thereupon the god of death, who is feared throughout the universe.

It is understood herewith that the faculty to discharge semen is the cause of death. Therefore, yogīs and transcendentalists who want to live for greater spans of life voluntarily restrain themselves from discharging semen. The more one can restrain the discharge of semen, the more one can be aloof from the problem of death. There are many yogīs living up to three hundred or seven hundred years by this process, and in the Bhāgavatam it is clearly stated that discharging semen is the cause of horrible death. The more one is addicted to sexual enjoyment, the more susceptible he is to a quick death.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
The sex organ producing semen [Note: SB 3.6.19 commentary explains that semen means the organ that produces semen. ] appeared and then the water devatā appeared. The anus appeared, and after that, the organ of excretion appeared. Then the devatā of the excretion organ, death, feared by all people, appeared.
Time is the Lord's instrument, quietly grinding every arrangement we trust. The verse asks us to befriend this fact now, before it forces itself on us at the wrong moment.
Reflection Questions
  • What conversation have you been postponing as if time were unlimited?
  • Where could a small daily remembrance of death make today more honest?
📝 My note

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