Shloka 30

Devanagari script

पुत्रदारकुट॒म्बेषु सक्ता: सीदन्ति जन्तव: । सर:पड्कार्णवे मग्ना जीर्णा वनगजा इव,स्त्री-पुत्र और कुट॒म्बमें आसक्त रहनेवाले प्राणी उसी प्रकार कष्ट पाते हैं, जैसे जंगलके बूढ़े हाथी तालाबके दलदलमें फँसकर दुःख उठाते हैं

Transliteration

putradārakuṭumbeṣu saktāḥ sīdanti jantavaḥ | saraḥ-paṅkārṇave magnā jīrṇā vanagajā iva ||

Translation

Nārada sprach: Wesen, die an Frau, Kindern und Hausstand hängen, versinken im Leid—wie alte wilde Elefanten, die im Schlamm eines Sees feststecken und hilflos leiden.

Word by Word

पुत्रin sons

दारin wives

कुटुम्बेषुin families/households

सक्ताःattached, clinging

सीदन्तिsink; suffer; become distressed

जन्तवःcreatures, beings

सरःin a lake

पङ्कार्णवेin a sea of mud; in muddy mire

मग्नाःsunk, immersed, stuck

जीर्णाःworn out, old

वनगजाःforest-elephants

इवlike, as

Speaker

नारद उवाच

Characters & Entities

Nārada

sons/children (putra)

wife (dāra)

household/family (kuṭumba)

lake/pond (saraḥ)

mud/mire (paṅka)

wild/forest elephants (vanagaja)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Excessive attachment to spouse, children, and household becomes a form of bondage that causes suffering; one should cultivate discernment and detachment so that family life does not turn into spiritual entrapment.

What is happening in the narrative?

Nārada is instructing the listener through a vivid simile: beings engrossed in domestic attachments are compared to aged wild elephants trapped in a lake’s mire, unable to free themselves and therefore enduring pain.