Srimad Bhagavatam — Panchama Skandha, Shloka 33
The Forest of Material Existence (Saṁsāra-vana) and the Delivering Path of Bharata’s Teachings
एवमध्वन्यवरुन्धानो मृत्युगजभयात्तमसि गिरिकन्दरप्राये ॥ ३३ ॥
evam adhvany avarundhāno mṛtyu-gaja-bhayāt tamasi giri-kandara-prāye.
Dans ce monde matériel, lorsque l’âme conditionnée oublie sa relation avec la Suprême Personnalité de Dieu et néglige la conscience de Kṛṣṇa, elle s’adonne à maints actes fautifs et pécheurs. Elle subit alors les trois sortes de souffrances et, par crainte de l’éléphant de la mort, tombe dans une obscurité semblable à une caverne de montagne.
Everyone is afraid of death, and however strong a materialistic person may be, when there is disease and old age one must certainly accept death’s notice. The conditioned soul becomes very morose to receive notice of death. His fear is compared to the fear experienced upon entering a dark mountain cave, and death is compared to a great elephant.
FAQs
This verse depicts death as a powerful “elephant” that terrifies the conditioned soul, driving him into deeper ignorance (tamas) rather than toward spiritual shelter.
In Canto 5, Chapter 14’s allegory, the soul’s material journey becomes obstructed and fear-driven, and the “mountain-cave” image conveys entrapment—an increasingly inescapable condition of ignorance.
Instead of letting anxiety about death push you into distraction and darkness, take it as a prompt to seek clarity through sādhana—hearing sacred wisdom, cultivating devotion, and living with detachment from fleeting pleasures.