SB 5.14.28 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

क्‍वापि देवमायया स्त्रिया भुजलतोपगूढ: प्रस्कन्नविवेकविज्ञानो यद्विहारगृहारम्भाकुलहृदयस्तदाश्रयावसक्तसुतदुहितृकलत्रभाषितावलोकविचेष्टितापहृतहृदय आत्मानमजितात्मापारेऽन्धे तमसि प्रहिणोति ॥ २८ ॥

Verse text

kvāpi deva-māyayā striyā bhuja-latopagūḍhaḥ praskanna-viveka-vijṣāno yad-vihāra-gṛhārambhākula-hṛdayas tad-āśrayāvasakta-suta-duhitṛ-kalatra-bhāṣitāvaloka-viceṣṭitāpahṛta-hṛdaya ātmānam ajitātmāpāre ’ndhe tamasi prahiṇoti.

Synonyms

kvāpi — somewhere ; deva — māyayā — by the influence of the illusory energy ; striyā — in the form of one’s girlfriend or wife ; bhuja — latā — by beautiful arms, which are compared to tender creepers in the forest ; upagūḍhaḥ — being deeply embraced ; praskanna — lost ; viveka — all intelligence ; vijṣānaḥ — scientific knowledge ; yat — vihāra — for the enjoyment of the wife ; gṛha — ārambha — to find a house or apartment ; ākula — hṛdayaḥ — whose heart becomes engrossed ; tat — of that house ; āśraya — avasakta — who are under the shelter ; suta — of sons ; duhitṛ — of daughters ; kalatra — of the wife ; bhāṣita — avaloka — by the conversations and by their beautiful glances ; viceṣṭita — by activities ; apahṛta — hṛdayaḥ — whose consciousness is taken away ; ātmānam — himself ; ajita — uncontrolled ; ātmā — whose self ; apāre — in unlimited ; andhe — blind darkness ; tamasi — in hellish life ; prahiṇoti — he hurls .

Translation

Sometimes the conditioned soul is attracted by illusion personified (his wife or girlfriend) and becomes eager to be embraced by a woman. Thus he loses his intelligence as well as knowledge of life’s goal. At that time, no longer attempting spiritual cultivation, he becomes overly attached to his wife or girlfriend and tries to provide her with a suitable apartment. Again, he becomes very busy under the shelter of that home and is captivated by the talks, glances and activities of his wife and children. In this way he loses his Kṛṣṇa consciousness and throws himself in the dense darkness of material existence.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Sometimes, embraced by the creeper-like arms of a woman who is māyā herself, he loses discrimination and knowledge, and with heart absorbed in building a house for her pleasure, his heart becomes stolen by the words, glances and actions of sons, daughters, and the son’s wife, who are all under his wife’s shelter. Uncontrolled in mind, he hurls himself into the greatest insurmountable darkness. This verse explains taking shelter of the creepers, mentioned in SB 5.13.16. Taking shelter of the creepers means he is embraced by a woman who is none other than the Lord’s māyā. In this state he loses discrimination and knowledge. His mind becomes absorbed in building a house for enjoyment with his wife (yat). His heart is stolen away by the words, actions and glances of, daughters, sons and the son’s wife under the wife’s shelter.

Purport

When the conditioned soul is embraced by his beloved wife, he forgets everything about Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The more he becomes attached to his wife, the more he becomes implicated in family life. One Bengali poet, Bankim Chandra, says that to the eyes of the lover the beloved is always very beautiful, even though ugly. This attraction is called deva-māyā. The attraction between man and woman is the cause of bondage for both. Actually both belong to the parā prakṛti, the superior energy of the Lord, but both are actually prakṛti (female). However, because both want to enjoy one another, they are sometimes described as puruṣa (male). Actually neither is puruṣa, but both can be superficially described as puruṣa. As soon as man and woman are united, they become attached to home, hearth, land, friendship and money. In this way they are both entrapped in material existence. The word bhuja-latā-upagūḍha, meaning “being embraced by beautiful arms which are compared to creepers,” describes the way the conditioned soul is bound within this material world. The products of sex life — sons and daughters — certainly follow. This is the way of material existence.