FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.2.44

सुयज्ञो नन्वयं शेते मूढा यमनुशोचथ । य: श्रोता योऽनुवक्तेह स न द‍ृश्येत कर्हिचित् ॥ ४४ ॥
suyajño nanv ayaṁ śete
[suyajno nanv ayam shete]
mūḍhā yam anuśocatha
[moodhaa yam anushochatha]
yaḥ śrotā yo ’nuvakteha
[yah shrotaa yo ’nuvakteha]
sa na dṛśyeta karhicit
[sa na drishyeta karhichit]
suyajñaḥ — the king named Suyajña nanu — indeed ayam — this śete — lies mūḍhāḥ — O foolish people yam — whom anuśocatha — you cry for yaḥ — he who śrotā — the hearer yaḥ — he who anuvaktā — the speaker iha — in this world saḥ — he na — not dṛśyeta — is visible karhicit — at any time.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
suyajño nanv ayaṁ śete
suyajñaḥ
the king named Suyajña
nanu
indeed
ayam
this
śete
lies
mūḍhā yam anuśocatha
mūḍhāḥ
O foolish people
yam
whom
anuśocatha
you cry for
yaḥ śrotā yo ’nuvakteha
yaḥ
he who
śrotā
the hearer
yaḥ
he who
sa na dṛśyeta karhicit
anuvaktā
the speaker
iha
in this world
saḥ
he
na
not
dṛśyeta
is visible
karhicit
at any time.
Yamarāja continued: O lamenters, you are all fools! The person named Suyajña, for whom you lament, is still lying before you and has not gone anywhere. Then what is the cause for your lamentation? Previously he heard you and replied to you, but now, not finding him, you are lamenting. This is contradictory behavior, for you have never actually seen the person within the body who heard you and replied. There is no need for your lamentation, for the body you have always seen is lying here.

This instruction by Yamarāja in the form of a boy is understandable even for a common man. A common man who considers the body the self is certainly comparable to an animal ( yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke … sa eva go-kharaḥ ). But even a common man can understand that after death a person is gone. Although the body is still there, a dead man’s relatives lament that the person has gone away, for a common man sees the body but cannot see the soul. As described in Bhagavad-gītā, dehino ’smin yathā dehe: the soul, the proprietor of the body, is within. After death, when the breath within the nostrils has stopped, one can understand that the person within the body, who was hearing and replying, has now gone. Therefore, in effect, the common man concludes that actually the spirit soul was different from the body and has now gone away. Thus even a common man, coming to his senses, can know that the real person who was within the body and was hearing and replying was never seen. For that which was never seen, what is the need of lamentation?

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
O fools! The person named Suyajña, for whom you lament, is still lying before you. He who spoke and heard was not visible at any time. “This king, defeated in battle, now sleeps. How can we ignore him and not show affection?” But his body is still here. “Up until now he would hear and respond to our lamentation.” Even before this time, he could not be seen. What you saw before–the body, you can also see now.
Yamarāja points out that Suyajña's body is still right there — what is missing is the one who heard and replied. Death proves that what mattered was never the body. Every funeral is a confession that we loved the soul all along.
Reflection Questions
  • Whose absence has taught you that you loved the soul, not the body?
  • How does that recognition change how you treat the living in your life?
📝 My note

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