SB 5.13.9
kvacin nigirno ’jagarahina jano
navaiti kiñcid vipine ’paviddhah
dastah sma sete kva ca danda-sukair
andho ’ndha-kupe patitas tamisre
Translation by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada:
The conditioned soul in the material forest is sometimes swallowed by a python or crushed. At such a time he is left lying in the forest like a dead person, devoid of consciousness and knowledge. Sometimes other poisonous snakes bite him. Being blind to his consciousness, he falls down into a dark well of hellish life with no hope of being rescued.
Purport by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada:
When one becomes unconscious due to being bitten by a snake, one cannot understand what is taking place outside the body. This unconscious condition is the condition of deep sleep. Similarly, the conditioned soul is actually sleeping on the lap of the illusory energy. Bhaktivinoda Thakura has sung, kota nidra yao maya-pisacira kole: “O living entity, how long will you sleep in this condition on the lap of the illusory energy?” People do not understand that they are actually sleeping in this material world, being devoid of knowledge of spiritual life. Caitanya Mahaprabhu therefore says:
enechi ausadhi maya nasibara lagi’
hari-nama-maha-mantra lao tumi magi’
“I have brought medicine to awaken every living being from perpetual sleep. Please receive the holy name of the Lord, the Hare Krsna maha-mantra, and awaken.” The Katha Upanisad (1.3.14) also says, uttistha jagrata prapya varan nibodhata: “O living entity, you are sleeping in this material world. Please get up and take advantage of your human form of life.” The sleeping condition means loss of all knowledge. In Bhagavad-gita (2.69) it is also said, ya nisa sarva-bhutanam tasyam jagarti samyami: “What is night for all beings is the time of awakening for the self-controlled.” Even in the higher planets, everyone is under the spell of the illusory energy. No one is really interested in the real values of life. The sleeping condition, called kala-sarpa (the time factor), keeps the conditioned soul in a state of ignorance, and therefore pure consciousness is lost. In the forest there are many blind wells, and if one falls down in one there is no chance of being rescued. In a state of sleep, one remains perpetually bitten by some animals, especially snakes.