Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.14.28

kvāpi deva-māyayā striyā bhuja-latopagūdhah praskanna-viveka-vijñāno yad-vihāra-grihārambhākula-hridayas tad-āśrayāvasakta-suta-duhitri-kalatra-bhāshitāvaloka-viceshtitāpahrita-hridaya ātmānam ajitātmāpāre 'ndhe tamasi prahinoti

SYNONYMS

kvāpi — somewhere; deva-māyayā — by the influence of the illusory energy; striyā — in the form of one's girl friend or wife; bhuja-latā — by beautiful arms, which are compared to tender creepers in the forest; upagūdhah — being deeply embarrassed; praskanna — lost; viveka — all intelligence; vijñānah — scientific knowledge; yat-vihāra — for the enjoyment of the wife; griha-ārambha — to find a house or apartment; ākula-hridayah — whose heart becomes engrossed; tat — of that house; āśraya-avasakta — who are under the shelter; suta — of sons; duhitri — of daughters; kalatra — of the wife; bhāshita-avaloka — by the conversations and by their beautiful glances; viceshtita — by activities; apahrita-hridayah — whose consciousness is taken away; ātmānam — himself; ajita — uncontrolled; ātmā — whose self; apāre — in unlimited; andhe — blind darkness; tamasi — in hellish life; prahinoti — he hurls.

TRANSLATION

Sometimes the conditioned soul is attracted by illusion personified (his wife or girl friend) 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 girl friend 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 Krishna consciousness and throws himself in the dense darkness of material existence.

PURPORT

When the conditioned soul is embraced by his beloved wife, he forgets everything about Krishna 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 prakriti, the superior energy of the Lord, but both are actually prakriti (female). However, because both want to enjoy one another, they are sometimes described as purusha (male). Actually neither is purusha, but both can be superficially described as purusha. 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-upagūdha, 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.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness