Srimad Bhagavatam — Ekadasha Skandha, Shloka 36
Avadhūta’s Teachers: Python, Ocean, Moth, Bee, Elephant, Deer, Fish—and Piṅgalā’s Song of Detachment
कियत् प्रियं ते व्यभजन् कामा ये कामदा नरा: । आद्यन्तवन्तो भार्याया देवा वा कालविद्रुता: ॥ ३६ ॥
kiyat priyaṁ te vyabhajan kāmā ye kāma-dā narāḥ ādy-antavanto bhāryāyā devā vā kāla-vidrutāḥ
Les hommes procurent aux femmes une jouissance des sens, mais tous ces hommes—et même les demi-dieux du ciel—ont un commencement et une fin; le temps les emporte. Quelle joie véritable des êtres si fugitifs pourraient-ils donner à leurs épouses ?
In this material world everyone is basically pursuing his personal sense gratification, and thus everyone is being ruined by the influence of time. On the material platform no one actually helps anyone else. So-called material love is simply a cheating process, as the lady Piṅgalā is now discovering.
FAQs
This verse teaches that pleasure received from lust-driven relationships is limited and unreliable; time inevitably ends such arrangements, so they cannot give lasting satisfaction.
To emphasize that no worldly shelter—human or divine—is permanent; all conditioned enjoyers are subject to kāla (time), so one should seek a higher, eternal refuge.
Don’t build your identity on romantic/sexual validation or temporary attention; cultivate inner steadiness and redirect longing toward lasting spiritual practice and devotion.