varam - better; huta-vaha - of fire; jvālā - in the flames; pañjara-antaḥ - inside a cage; vyavasthitiḥ - abiding; na - not; śauri-cintā - of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, or thought of Kṛṣṇa; vimukha - bereft; jana - of persons; saṁvāsa - of the association; vaiśasam - the calamity.

“ ‘It is better to accept the miseries of being encaged within bars and surrounded by burning flames than to associate with those bereft of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Such association is a very great hardship.’