Text-21-23
SB 6.15.21-23
adhuna putrinam tapo
bhavataivanubhuyate
evam dara grha rayo
vividhaisvarya-sampadah
sabdadayas ca visayas
cala rajya-vibhutayah
mahi rajyam balam koso
bhrtyamatya-suhrj-janah
sarve ’pi suraseneme
soka-moha-bhayartidah
gandharva-nagara-prakhyah
svapna-maya-manorathah
Translation by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada:
My dear King, now you are actually experiencing the misery of a person who has sons and daughters. O King, owner of the state of Surasena, one’s wife, his house, the opulence of his kingdom, and his various other opulences and objects of sense perception are all the same in that they are temporary. One’s kingdom, military power, treasury, servants, ministers, friends and relatives are all causes of fear, illusion, lamentation and distress. They are like a gandharva-nagara, a nonexistent palace that one imagines to exist in the forest. Because they are impermanent, they are no better than illusions, dreams and mental concoctions.
Purport by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada:
This verse describes the entanglement of material existence. In material existence, the living entity possesses many things — the material body, children, wife and so on (dehapatya-kalatradisu). One may think that these will give him protection, but that is impossible. In spite of all these possessions, the spirit soul has to give up his present situation and accept another. The next situation may be unfavorable, but even if it is favorable, one must give it up and again accept another body. In this way, one’s tribulation in material existence continues. A sane man should be perfectly aware that these things will never be able to give him happiness. One must be situated in his spiritual identity and eternally serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead as a devotee. Angira Rsi and Narada Muni gave this instruction to Maharaja Citraketu.