Nārāyaṇasya Guhya-nāmāni Niruktāni (Etymologies of Nārāyaṇa’s Secret Epithets) / नारायणस्य गुह्यनामानि निरुक्तानि
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
putradārakuṭumbeṣu saktāḥ sīdanti jantavaḥ | saraḥ-paṅkārṇave magnā jīrṇā vanagajā iva ||
Dijo Nārada: Las criaturas que se aferran a la esposa, a los hijos y al hogar se hunden en la aflicción—como los viejos elefantes salvajes que, atrapados en el fango de un lago, padecen sin poder valerse.
नारद उवाच
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.
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.