Yayāti said:
1. O Mātali, tell me the reason, why this body, the protector of Dharma, does not go to heaven with the soul.
Mātali said:
2-9. The five elements do not go together (with the soul); in the company of the soul, O king. All of them come together in the village of the body. All of them, afflicted by old age, go to their respective abodes. Since the earth is created with a preponderance of fluid, it being wet due to the fluids becomes soft, O king. It is pierced by ants and rats. Holes are formed into it, and also anthills with large interiors. In the same way inflammation of the glands of the neck and itch are produced in the body. O best of men, this body is also cleft by worms. Enlargements (of parts like the spleen), instantly troubling, are also produced in it. O son of Nahuṣa, this body is full of such defects. How will it go to heaven with the life, O lord of men? The earthly part is settled in the body for the vital air essential to digestion. The body does not come (i.e. go) to heaven. It remains here as the earth does. I have told you all this along with a heap of earthy blemishes.