1298
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 4, Ch. 28]
PURPORT
According to the Vedic system, a dead body is set on fire, but before death there is another fire or fever, which is called  prajvāra , or  viṣṇu-jvāra . Medical science verifies that when one's temperature is raised to 107 degrees, a man immediately dies. This  prajvāra , or high fever, at the last stage of life places the living entity in the midst of a blazing fire.
TEXT 12
तस्यां सन्दक्षमानायां सपौरः सपरिच्छदः ।
कौटुम्बिकः कुटुम्बिन्या उपातप्यत सान्वयः ॥१२॥
tasyām sandahyamānāyām  
 sapauraḥ saparicchadaḥ  
 kauṭumbikaḥ kuṭumbinyā  
 upātapyata sānvayaḥ
tasyām —when that city;  sandahyamānāyām —was ablaze;  sa-pauraḥ —along with all the citizens;  sa-paricchadaḥ —along with all servants and followers;  kauṭumbikaḥ —the King, having so many relatives;  kuṭumbinyā —along with his wife;  upātapyata —began to suffer the temperature of the fire;  sa-anvayaḥ —along with descendants.
TRANSLATION
When the city was set ablaze, all the citizens and servants of the King, as well as all family members, sons, grandsons, wives and other relatives, were within the fire. King Purañjana thus became very unhappy.
PURPORT
There are many parts of the body—the senses, the limbs, the skin, the muscles, blood, marrow, etc.—and all these are considered here figuratively as sons, grandsons, citizens and dependents. When the body is attacked by the  viṣṇu-jvāra , the fiery condition becomes so acute that sometimes one remains in a coma. This means that the body is in such severe pain that one becomes unconscious and cannot feel the miseries taking place within the body. Indeed, the living entity becomes so helpless at the time of death, that, although unwilling, he is forced to give up the body and enter another. In  Bhagavad-gītā  it is stated that man may, by scientific advancement,