Srimad Bhagavatam — Panchama Skandha, Shloka 15
The Forest of Material Existence (Saṁsāra-vana) and the Delivering Path of Bharata’s Teachings
क्वचिदासाद्य गृहं दाववत्प्रियार्थविधुरमसुखोदर्कं शोकाग्निना दह्यमानो भृशं निर्वेदमुपगच्छति ॥ १५ ॥
kvacid āsādya gṛhaṁ dāvavat priyārtha-vidhuram asukhodarkaṁ śokāgninā dahyamāno bhṛśaṁ nirvedam upagacchati.
In this world, family life is exactly like a blazing fire in the forest. There is not the least happiness, and gradually one becomes more and more implicated in unhappiness. In household life, there is nothing favorable for perpetual happiness. Being implicated in home life, the conditioned soul is burned by the fire of lamentation. Sometimes he condemns himself as being very unfortunate, and sometimes he claims that he suffers because he performed no pious activities in his previous life.
In the Gurv-aṣṭaka, Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura has sung:
FAQs
This verse explains that material home life can burn like a forest fire—when one is separated from what is dear and when the inevitable outcome is misery—leading to grief and eventual disillusionment.
Because attachment in family life can suddenly intensify into suffering through loss, separation, and anxiety—burning the heart with lamentation—just as a forest fire consumes everything without warning.
Recognize that happiness based solely on changing relationships and possessions is unstable; cultivate devotion and spiritual practice so that inevitable losses do not consume the mind with grief, and let disillusionment mature into healthy detachment.