Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.28.15

śithilāvayavo yarhi

gandharvair hrita-paurushah

yavanair aribhī rājann

uparuddho ruroda ha

SYNONYMS

śithila — slackened; avayavah — his limbs; yarhi — when; gandharvaih — by the Gandharvas; hrita — defeated; paurushah — his bodily strength; yavanaih — by the Yavanas; aribhih — by the enemies; rājan — O King Prācīnabarhishat; uparuddhah — being checked; ruroda — cried loudly; ha — indeed.

TRANSLATION

The limbs of the serpent's body were slackened by the Gandharvas and Yavana soldiers, who had thoroughly defeated his bodily strength. When he attempted to leave the body, he was checked by his enemies. Being thus baffled in his attempt, he began to cry loudly.

PURPORT

At the last stage of life, the different gates of the body are choked by the effects of disease, which are caused by an imbalance of bile, mucus and air. Thus the living entity cannot clearly express his difficulties, and surrounding relatives hear the sound "ghura ghura" from a dying man. In his Mukunda-mālā-stotra, King Kulaśekhara states:

krishna tvadīya-padapańkaja-pañjarāntam

adyaiva me viśatu mānasa-rāja-hamsah

prāna-prayāna-samaye kapha-vāta-pittaih

kanthāvarodhana-vidhau smaranam kutas te

"My dear Krishna, please help me die immediately so that the swan of my mind may be encircled by the stem of Your lotus feet. Otherwise at the time of my final breath, when my throat is choked up, how will it be possible for me to think of You?" The swan takes great pleasure in diving within water and being encircled by the stem of the lotus flower. This entanglement is sporting joy. If, in our healthy condition, we think of the lotus feet of the Lord and die, it is most fortunate. In old age, at the time of death, the throat sometimes becomes choked with mucus or blocked by air. At such a time the sound vibration of Hare Krishna, the mahā-mantra, may not come out. Thus one may forget Krishna. Of course, those who are strong in Krishna consciousness cannot possibly forget Krishna at any stage because they are accustomed to chanting the Hare Krishna mantra, especially when there is a signal from death.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness