Srimad Bhagavatam — Chaturtha Skandha, Shloka 53
Nārada Explains the Allegory of King Purañjana
Deha–Indriya–Manaḥ Mapping and the Remedy of Bhakti
क्षुद्रं चरं सुमनसां शरणे मिथित्वा रक्तं षडङ्घ्रिगणसामसु लुब्धकर्णम् । अग्रे वृकानसुतृपोऽविगणय्य यान्तं पृष्ठे मृगं मृगय लुब्धकबाणभिन्नम् ॥ ५३ ॥
kṣudraṁ caraṁ sumanasāṁ śaraṇe mithitvā raktaṁ ṣaḍaṅghri-gaṇa-sāmasu lubdha-karṇam agre vṛkān asu-tṛpo ’vigaṇayya yāntaṁ pṛṣṭhe mṛgaṁ mṛgaya lubdhaka-bāṇa-bhinnam
Mein lieber König, suche jenen Hirsch, der mit seiner Hirschkuh in einem schönen Blumengarten Gras frisst. Er ist sehr an sein Tun gebunden und genießt den süßen Gesang der Hummeln. Er merkt nicht, dass vor ihm ein fleischfressender Tiger steht und hinter ihm ein Jäger droht, ihn mit scharfen Pfeilen zu durchbohren; so ist sein Tod nahe.
Here is an allegory in which the King is advised to find a deer that is always in a dangerous position. Although threatened from all sides, the deer simply eats grass in a nice flower garden, unaware of the danger all around him. All living entities, especially human beings, think themselves very happy in the midst of families. As if living in a flower garden and hearing the sweet humming of bumblebees, everyone is centered around his wife, who is the beauty of family life. The bumblebees’ humming may be compared to the talk of children. The human being, just like the deer, enjoys his family without knowing that before him is the factor of time, which is represented by the tiger. The fruitive activities of a living entity simply create another dangerous position and oblige him to accept different types of bodies. For a deer to run after a mirage of water in the desert is not unusual. The deer is also very fond of sex. The conclusion is that one who lives like a deer will be killed in due course of time. Vedic literatures therefore advise that we should understand our constitutional position and take to devotional service before death comes. According to the Bhāgavatam (11.9.29) :
FAQs
It warns that the mind, though sheltered among the good, can become addicted to sweet sense-objects (like alluring sounds), ignoring the certainty of death—thus the conditioned soul is “hunted” by time and karma.
In the allegorical teaching, the hunter represents the force that captures embodied life—time/karma and ultimately death—while the arrow symbolizes the sudden strike of suffering, aging, and mortality that ends material enjoyment.
Practice conscious restraint over media and sensory inputs, remember life’s urgency (mṛtyu-smaraṇa), and redirect the ear and mind to śravaṇa—hearing Bhagavān’s names and teachings—so attraction shifts from fleeting sweetness to lasting devotion.