Text 11] Deliverance of the Yamala-arjuna Trees 183
(Chandogya Upanisad 6.14.2): one has full knowledge about life when
one is dcaéryavadn, controlled by the dcaérya. But when one is conducted
by rajo-guna and tamo-guna, one does not care about anything; instead.
one acts like an ordinary foolish animal, risking his life (mrtyu-sarmsara-
vartmani) and therefore continuing to go through suffering after suffer-
ing. Na te viduh svartha-gatirn hi visnum (Bhag. 7.5.31). Such a foolish
person does not know how to elevate himself in this body. Instead, he in-
dulges in sinful activities and goes deeper and deeper into hellish life.
TEXT 11
ae: Reracia: ot teqatata |
~s LN
aig: Raat afer: Raa: DATSH aT N28
dehah kim anna-datuh svam
nisektur mdtur eva ca
matuh pitur va balinah
kretur agneh Suno ’pi va
dehah—this body; kim anna-datuh—does it belong to the employer
who gives me the money to maintain it; svam—or does it belong to me
personally; nisektuh—(or does it belong) to the person who discharged
the semen; mdtuh eva—(or does it belong) to the mother who main-
tained this body within her womb; ca—and; mdatuh pituh va—or (does it
belong) to the father of the mother (because sometimes the father of the
mother takes a grandson as an adopted son); balinah—(or does it
belong) to the person who takes this body away by force; kretuh—or to
the person who purchases the body as a slave; agneh—or to the fire
(because ultimately the body is burned); sunah—or to the dogs and
vultures that ultimately eat it; api—even; vaé—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
