Shloka 28
The Forest of Material Existence (Saṁsāra-vana) and the Delivering Path of Bharata’s Teachings
क्वापि देवमायया स्त्रिया भुजलतोपगूढ: प्रस्कन्नविवेकविज्ञानो यद्विहारगृहारम्भाकुलहृदयस्तदाश्रयावसक्तसुतदुहितृकलत्रभाषितावलोकविचेष्टितापहृतहृदय आत्मानमजितात्मापारेऽन्धे तमसि प्रहिणोति ॥ २८ ॥
kvāpi deva-māyayā striyā bhuja-latopagūḍhaḥ praskanna-viveka-vijñāno yad-vihāra-gṛhārambhākula-hṛdayas tad-āśrayāvasakta-suta-duhitṛ-kalatra-bhāṣitāvaloka-viceṣṭitāpahṛta-hṛdaya ātmānam ajitātmāpāre ’ndhe tamasi prahiṇoti.
Manchmal wird die bedingte Seele von der deva-māyā, die sich als Frau verkörpert, angezogen und sehnt sich nach ihrer Umarmung; so verliert sie Unterscheidungskraft und Wissen um das Lebensziel. Dann lässt sie die spirituelle Übung, hängt an Frau oder Geliebter und am Aufbau des Hauses; durch Worte, Blicke und Handlungen von Frau und Kindern wird ihr Herz geraubt, sie verliert Kṛṣṇa-Bewusstsein und stürzt sich in die dichte Finsternis des materiellen Daseins.
When the conditioned soul is embraced by his beloved wife, he forgets everything about Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The more he becomes attached to his wife, the more he becomes implicated in family life. One Bengali poet, Bankim Chandra, says that to the eyes of the lover the beloved is always very beautiful, even though ugly. This attraction is called deva-māyā. The attraction between man and woman is the cause of bondage for both. Actually both belong to the parā prakṛti, the superior energy of the Lord, but both are actually prakṛti (female). However, because both want to enjoy one another, they are sometimes described as puruṣa (male). Actually neither is puruṣa, but both can be superficially described as puruṣa. As soon as man and woman are united, they become attached to home, hearth, land, friendship and money. In this way they are both entrapped in material existence. The word bhuja-latā-upagūḍha, meaning “being embraced by beautiful arms which are compared to creepers,” describes the way the conditioned soul is bound within this material world. The products of sex life — sons and daughters — certainly follow. This is the way of material existence.
FAQs
This verse says that when one is captivated by the Lord’s illusory energy through sensual attachment, one’s discrimination collapses, and fascination with spouse and children can drag the person into deeper ignorance unless the mind and senses are conquered.
Śukadeva is explaining the allegory of the material world as a dangerous forest: sensual attraction (symbolized by the embrace) makes the jīva lose viveka (discernment) and become bound by household entanglement, moving further from liberation and devotion.
Cultivate self-control and spiritual priorities—regular śravaṇa-kīrtana (hearing and chanting), mindful boundaries with sense enjoyment, and seeing family life as service to Bhagavān rather than as the center of identity—so attachment does not become “blind darkness.”