SB 12.3.2 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

काम एष नरेन्द्राणां मोघ: स्याद् विदुषामपि । येन फेनोपमे पिण्डे येऽतिविश्रम्भिता नृपा: ॥ २ ॥

Verse text

kāma eṣa narendrāṇāṁ moghaḥ syād viduṣām api yena phenopame piṇḍe ye ’ti-viśrambhitā nṛpāḥ

Synonyms

kāmaḥ — lust ; eṣaḥ — this ; nara — indrāṇām — of the rulers of men ; moghaḥ — the failure ; syāt — becomes ; viduṣām — who are wise ; api — even ; yena — by which (lust) ; phena — upame — comparable to ephemeral bubbles ; piṇḍe — in this lump ; ye — who ; ati — viśrambhitāḥ — perfectly trusting ; nṛpāḥ — the kings .

Translation

“Great rulers of men, even those who are learned, meet frustration and failure because of material lust. Driven by lust, these kings place great hope and faith in the dead lump of flesh called the body, even though the material frame is as fleeting as bubbles of foam on water.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

The lust of even intelligent kings, by which they put trust in the body which is as transient as bubbles in water, ends in failure. By this lust (yena) kings put trust in this body (piṇḍe).