In the state known as Usīnara lived a celebrated king named Suyajña. When the king wa ed in hattle bu his enemies. his kinsmen sat down around the dead bodv and beean t lament his death.
His golden, bejeweled armor smashed, his ornaments and garlands fallen from their places, his hair scattered and his eyes lusterless, the slain king lay on the battlefield. His heart had been pierced by his enemy's arrows, and his entire body was now smeared with blood. When he died he had wanted to show his prowess, and thus he had bitten his lips, and his teeth remained in that position. His beautiful lotuslike face was now black and covered with dust from the battlefield. His arms, with his sword and other weapons, were cut and broken. When the queens of the King of Usinara saw their husband lying in that position, they began crying, "O lord, now that you have been killed, we have also been killed!" Repeating these words again and again and striking their breasts,, they fell down at the feet of the dead king.
As the queens loudly cried, their tears glided down their breasts, becoming reddened by kunkuma powder, and fell upon the lotus feet of their husband. Their hair became disarrayed, and their ornaments fell as they piteously lamented their husband's death. Their loud cries were heard even from the abode of Yamarāja. Assuming the body of a boy, Yamarāja approached the queens and advised them as follows:
"Every conditioned soul receives a certain type of body according to his work, and when the soul's engagement with that body is finished, the body is finished. Although the spirit soul is situated in subtle and gross material bodies in various forms of life, he is not bound by them, for he is always completely different from the manifested body. Just as a householder, although different from his house, identifies himself with his house, so out of ignorance a conditioned soul identifies himself with his body, although the body is actually different from the soul. The body is obtained through a combination of earth, water, and fire, and when the earth, water, and fire are transformed in the course of time, the body is vanquished. The soul has nothing to do with this creation and dissolution of the body."