Nārāyaṇasya Guhya-nāmāni Niruktāni (Etymologies of Nārāyaṇa’s Secret Epithets) / नारायणस्य गुह्यनामानि निरुक्तानि
पुत्रदारकुट॒म्बेषु सक्ता: सीदन्ति जन्तव: । सर:पड्कार्णवे मग्ना जीर्णा वनगजा इव
putradārakuṭumbeṣu saktāḥ sīdanti jantavaḥ | saraḥ-paṅkārṇave magnā jīrṇā vanagajā iva ||
Нарада сказал: Существа, привязанные к жене, детям и дому, погружаются в бедствие — как старые дикие слоны, увязшие в тине озера и страдающие беспомощно.
नारद उवाच
Excessive attachment to spouse, children, and household becomes a form of bondage that causes suffering; one should cultivate discernment and detachment so that family life does not turn into spiritual entrapment.
Nārada is instructing the listener through a vivid simile: beings engrossed in domestic attachments are compared to aged wild elephants trapped in a lake’s mire, unable to free themselves and therefore enduring pain.