Shloka 6
Nārada Instructs Prācīnabarhiṣat: The Purañjana Narrative Begins
City of Nine Gates
गृहेषु कूटधर्मेषु पुत्रदारधनार्थधी: । न परं विन्दते मूढो भ्राम्यन् संसारवर्त्मसु ॥ ६ ॥
gṛheṣu kūṭa-dharmeṣu putra-dāra-dhanārtha-dhīḥ na paraṁ vindate mūḍho bhrāmyan saṁsāra-vartmasu
Aquele que se interessa apenas por um suposto dever doméstico—enredado em filhos, esposa e riqueza—não encontra a meta suprema. Esse tolo vagueia pelos caminhos do saṁsāra, passando por diversos corpos.
Those who are too much attached to family life, which consists of entanglement with wife, children, wealth and home, are engaged in kūṭa-dharma, pseudo duties. Prahlāda Mahārāja has likened these pseudo occupational duties to a dark well ( andha-kūpam ). Prahlāda has purposefully spoken of this dark well because if one falls into this well he will die. He may cry for help, but no one will hear him or come to rescue him.
FAQs
This verse warns that when one’s intelligence is absorbed in sons, spouse, and wealth—mistaking such pursuits as ‘dharma’—one fails to reach the supreme goal and instead continues wandering in saṁsāra.
In the Purañjana allegory, Śukadeva highlights how outward religiosity mixed with material motives becomes ‘kūṭa-dharma,’ keeping the soul bound to repeated birth and death rather than turning toward Bhagavān.
Do your duties without making family and money the ultimate purpose; prioritize sādhana and devotion, and treat home responsibilities as service, not as the final goal of life.