Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.14.20

sa eva punar nidrājagara-grihīto 'ndhe tamasi magnah śūnyāranya iva śete nānyat-kiñcana veda śava ivāpaviddhah

SYNONYMS

sah — that conditioned soul; eva — certainly; punah — again; nidrā-ajagara — by the python of deep sleep; grihītah — being devoured; andhe — in deep darkness; tamasi — in ignorance; magnah — being absorbed; śūnya-aranye — in the isolated forest; iva — like; śete — he lies down; na — not; anyat — else; kiñcana — anything; veda — knows; śavah — a dead body; iva — like; apaviddhah — thrown away.

TRANSLATION

Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued speaking to Mahārāja Parīkshit: My dear King, sleep is exactly like a python. Those who wander in the forest of material life are always devoured by the python of sleep. Being bitten by this python, they always remain in the darkness of ignorance. They are like dead bodies thrown in a distant forest. Thus the conditioned souls cannot understand what is going on in life.

PURPORT

Material life means being fully absorbed in eating, sleeping. mating and defending. Out of these, sleep is taken very seriously. While asleep, one completely forgets the object of life and what to do. For spiritual realization, one should try to avoid sleep as much as possible. The Gosvāmīs of Vrindāvana practically did not sleep at all. Of course, they slept some, for the body requires sleep, but they slept only about two hours, and sometimes not even that. They always engaged in spiritual cultivation. Nidrāhāra-vihārakādi-vijitau. Following in the footsteps of the Gosvāmīs, we should try to reduce sleeping, eating, mating and defending.

<<< >>>

Copyright ©r The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness