Shloka 3
The Forest of Material Existence: Jaḍa Bharata Instructs King Rahūgaṇa
प्रभूतवीरुत्तृणगुल्मगह्वरे कठोरदंशैर्मशकैरुपद्रुत: । क्वचित्तु गन्धर्वपुरं प्रपश्यति क्वचित्क्वचिच्चाशुरयोल्मुकग्रहम् ॥ ३ ॥
prabhūta-vīrut-tṛṇa-gulma-gahvare kaṭhora-daṁśair maśakair upadrutaḥ kvacit tu gandharva-puraṁ prapaśyati kvacit kvacic cāśu-rayolmuka-graham
في هذه الغابة كثافاتٌ من المتسلقات والعشب والشجيرات كأنها كهوفٌ مظللة؛ وهناك تُؤذى النفس المقيَّدة دائمًا ببعوضٍ لاذع (أناسٍ حسودين). تارةً ترى قصرًا متخيَّلًا كمدينة الغندرفا، وتارةً تُحيَّرها رؤيةُ شبحٍ خاطفٍ كالشهاب في السماء.
The material household is actually a hole of fruitive activity. To earn a livelihood one engages in different industries and trades, and sometimes one performs great sacrifices to go to higher planetary systems. Apart from this, at least everyone is engaged in earning a livelihood in some profession or occupation. In these dealings, one has to meet many undesirable people, and their behavior is compared to the biting of mosquitoes. This creates very undesirable conditions. Even in the midst of these disturbances, one imagines that he is going to construct a grand house and live there permanently, although he knows that he cannot. Gold is compared to a quickly fleeting fiend, which appears like a meteor in the sky. It displays itself for a moment and is then gone. Generally karmīs are attracted to gold or money, but these are compared herein to ghosts and witches.
FAQs
This verse portrays the conditioned soul as tormented by small miseries (like mosquito bites) and misled by mirage-like visions, showing how māyā manufactures false hopes and fears within material existence.
Śukadeva uses the image of a Gandharva city as a metaphor for a mirage—attractive, seemingly real prospects that vanish—symbolizing the deceptive promises of worldly enjoyment.
Recognize recurring patterns of anxiety and fleeting gratification as “forest illusions,” and redirect attention to steady sādhana—hearing and chanting about Kṛṣṇa—so choices are guided by dharma and devotion rather than impulse.