Srimad Bhagavatam — Chaturtha Skandha, Shloka 54
Nārada Explains the Allegory of King Purañjana
Deha–Indriya–Manaḥ Mapping and the Remedy of Bhakti
सुमन:समधर्मणां स्त्रीणां शरण आश्रमे पुष्पमधुगन्धवत्क्षुद्रतमं काम्यकर्मविपाकजं कामसुखलवं जैह्व्यौपस्थ्यादि विचिन्वन्तं मिथुनीभूय तदभिनिवेशितमनसंषडङ्घ्रिगणसामगीत वदतिमनोहरवनितादिजनालापेष्वतितरामतिप्रलोभितकर्णमग्रे वृकयूथवदात्मन आयुर्हरतोऽहोरात्रान्तान् काललवविशेषानविगणय्य गृहेषु विहरन्तं पृष्ठत एव परोक्षमनुप्रवृत्तो लुब्धक: कृतान्तोऽन्त:शरेण यमिह पराविध्यति तमिममात्मानमहो राजन् भिन्नहृदयं द्रष्टुमर्हसीति ॥ ५४ ॥
sumanaḥ-sama-dharmaṇāṁ strīṇāṁ śaraṇa āśrame puṣpa-madhu-gandhavat kṣudratamaṁ kāmya-karma-vipākajaṁ kāma-sukha-lavaṁ jaihvyaupasthyādi vicinvantaṁ mithunī-bhūya tad-abhiniveśita-manasaṁ ṣaḍaṅghri-gaṇa-sāma-gītavad atimanohara-vanitādi-janālāpeṣv atitarām atipralobhita-karṇam agre vṛka-yūthavad ātmana āyur harato ’ho-rātrān tān kāla-lava-viśeṣān avigaṇayya gṛheṣu viharantaṁ pṛṣṭhata eva parokṣam anupravṛtto lubdhakaḥ kṛtānto ’ntaḥ śareṇa yam iha parāvidhyati tam imam ātmānam aho rājan bhinna-hṛdayaṁ draṣṭum arhasīti.
Mon cher roi, la femme—séduisante au début mais troublante à la fin—est comme la fleur: d’abord attirante, puis détestable. Pris dans le désir, l’être vivant recherche une parcelle de plaisir des sens, de la langue jusqu’aux organes génitaux, née du fruit des actes convoités, et s’imagine heureux dans la vie de famille. Uni à son épouse, son mental demeure absorbé; et ses oreilles sont fortement séduites par les paroles douces de l’épouse et des enfants, semblables au bourdonnement des abeilles qui recueillent le miel. Il oublie que devant lui se tient le Temps, qui lui ravit la durée de vie au passage des jours et des nuits; et il ne voit pas l’intendant de la mort, tel un chasseur, qui le suit en secret par derrière pour le percer d’une flèche intérieure. Comprends-le: tu es menacé de toutes parts.
Materialistic life means forgetting one’s constitutional position as the eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa, and this forgetfulness is especially enhanced in the gṛhastha-āśrama. In the gṛhastha-āśrama a young man accepts a young wife who is very beautiful in the beginning, but in due course of time, after giving birth to many children and becoming older and older, she demands many things from the husband to maintain the entire family. At such a time the wife becomes detestable to the very man who accepted her in her younger days. One becomes attached to the gṛhastha-āśrama for two reasons only: the wife cooks palatable dishes for the satisfaction of her husband’s tongue, and she gives him sexual pleasure at night. A person attached to the gṛhastha-āśrama is always thinking of these two things — palatable food and sex enjoyment. The talks of the wife, which are enjoyed as a family recreation, and the talks of the children both attract the living entity. He thus forgets that he has to die someday and has to prepare for the next life if he wants to be put into a congenial body.
FAQs
This verse says that while one is absorbed in home and sense pleasure, the subtle portions of time pass day and night, silently carrying away one’s lifespan, and Death follows unseen.
Narada was instructing the king to awaken from excessive attachment to fruitive rituals and worldly enjoyment, showing through vivid imagery how sense-centered household absorption ends in unavoidable death.
Count your time, reduce compulsive sense entertainment, and redirect attention to sādhana—hearing and chanting about Bhagavān—so household life becomes spiritually purposeful rather than time-wasting.