Shloka 2
The Forest of Material Existence: Jaḍa Bharata Instructs King Rahūgaṇa
यस्यामिमे षण्नरदेव दस्यव: सार्थं विलुम्पन्ति कुनायकं बलात् । गोमायवो यत्र हरन्ति सार्थिकं प्रमत्तमाविश्य यथोरणं वृका: ॥ २ ॥
yasyām ime ṣaṇ nara-deva dasyavaḥ sārthaṁ vilumpanti kunāyakaṁ balāt gomāyavo yatra haranti sārthikaṁ pramattam āviśya yathoraṇaṁ vṛkāḥ
હે નરદેવ, આ ભવાટવીમાં છ શક્તિશાળી દસ્યુઓ છે, જે વેપારીસમાન બંધજીવને બળપૂર્વક કુપથમાં દોરી લૂંટી લે છે. જેમ જંગલમાં વાઘ-વરુ વગેરે રક્ષક પાસેથી મેદકને છીનવી લે, તેમ પત્ની-પુત્રાદિ શિયાળ જેવા બની ગૃહસ્થના હૃદયમાં પ્રવેશી તેને અનેક રીતે લૂંટી લે છે.
In the forest there are many plunderers, dacoits, jackals and tigers. The jackals are compared to one’s wife and children. In the dead of night, jackals cry very loudly, and similarly one’s wife and children in this material world also cry like jackals. The children say, “Father, this is wanted; give me this. I am your dear son.” Or the wife says, “I am your dear wife. Please give me this. This is now needed.” In this way one is plundered by the thieves in the forest. Not knowing the aim of human life, one is constantly being misguided. The aim of life is Viṣṇu ( na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇum ). Everyone works very hard to earn money, but no one knows that his real self-interest is in serving the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Instead of spending money for advancing the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, one spends his hard-earned money on clubs, brothels, liquor, slaughterhouses and so forth. Due to sinful activities, one becomes implicated in the process of transmigration and thus has to accept one body after another. Being thus absorbed in a distressed condition, one never attains happiness.
FAQs
This verse compares material life to a road where travelers are robbed by powerful plunderers and attacked when careless—warning that negligence and wrong guidance make one vulnerable to ruin.
Śukadeva is instructing Parīkṣit through an allegory of the world’s hazards, so the king (and listeners) become detached from material entanglement and take shelter of bhakti.
Stay spiritually alert: avoid harmful company and deceptive guidance, restrain the senses, and keep steady practices (śravaṇa, kīrtana, remembrance) so “carelessness” doesn’t invite inner and outer exploitation.