तथाहं कृपणः सुभ्रु भवत्याः प्रेमयन्त्रितः ।
आत्मानं नाभिजानामि मोहितस्तव मायया ॥१२॥

tathÄhaá¹ ká¹›paṇaḥ subhru
bhavatyÄḥ prema-yantritaḥ
ÄtmÄnaá¹ nÄbhijÄnÄmi
mohitas tava mÄyayÄ

 tathÄ - exactly like the he-goat; aham - I; ká¹›paṇaḥ - a miser with no sense of the importance of life; su-bhru - O my wife, with beautiful eyebrows; bhavatyÄḥ - in your company; prema-yantritaḥ - as if tied in love, although it is actually lust; ÄtmÄnam - self-realization (what I am and what my duty is); na abhijÄnÄmi - I could not realize even until now; mohitaḥ - being bewildered; tava - your; mÄyayÄ - by the materially attractive feature.


Text

O my dear wife with beautiful eyebrows, I am exactly like that he-goat, for I am so poor in intelligence that I am captivated by your beauty and have forgotten the real task of self-realization.

Purport

If one remains a victim of the so-called beauty of his wife, his family life is nothing but a dark well. HitvÄtma-pÄtaá¹ gá¹›ham andha-kÅ«pam. Existence in such a dark well is certainly suicidal. If one wants relief from the miserable condition of material life, one must voluntarily give up his lusty relationship with his wife; otherwise there is no question of self-realization. Unless one is extremely advanced in spiritual consciousness, household life is nothing but a dark well in which one commits suicide. PrahlÄda MahÄrÄja therefore recommended that in due time, at least after one’s fiftieth year, one must give up household life and go to the forest. Vanaá¹ gato yad dharim ÄÅ›rayeta. There one should seek shelter at the lotus feet of Hari.