FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.7.55

शय्यासनाटनस्थानवार्ताक्रीडाशनादिकम् । मिथुनीभूय विश्रब्धौ चेरतुर्वनराजिषु ॥ ५५ ॥
śayyāsanāṭana-sthāna
[shayyaasanaatana-sthaana]
vārtā-krīḍāśanādikam
[vaartaa-kreedaashanaadikam]
mithunī-bhūya viśrabdhau
[mithunee-bhooya vishrabdhau]
ceratur vana-rājiṣu
[cheratur vana-raajishu]
Word-for-word
śayyā — resting āsana — sitting aṭana — walking sthāna — standing vārtā — conversing krīḍā — playing aśana — eating ādikam — and so on mithunī-bhūya — together as a couple viśrabdhau — trusting ceratuḥ — they performed vana — of the forest rājiṣu — among the groves of trees.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
śayyāsanāṭana-sthāna
śayyā
resting
āsana
sitting
aṭana
walking
sthāna
standing
vārtā-krīḍāśanādikam
vārtā
conversing
krīḍā
playing
aśana
eating
ādikam
and so on
mithunī-bhūya viśrabdhau
mithunī-bhūya
together as a couple
viśrabdhau
trusting
ceratur vana-rājiṣu
ceratuḥ
they performed
vana
of the forest
rājiṣu
among the groves of trees.
Naively trusting in the future, they carried out their acts of resting, sitting, walking, standing, conversing, playing, eating and so forth as a loving couple among the trees of the forest.
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Trusting each other, they carried out their acts of resting, sitting, walking, standing, conversing, playing, eating and so forth among the trees of the forest.
Personal Guidance
Naive trust in a forest idyll — resting, eating, playing as a couple — blinds us to time's quiet approach; pleasure shared in forgetfulness of Kṛṣṇa is a slow trap.
Practical Applications
  • Notice one shared daily routine — meals, walks, conversation — and consciously offer it to Kṛṣṇa rather than letting it run on autopilot.
  • Refuse to treat ordinary domestic comfort as a permanent shelter; remember today that time is silently moving in the background of every pleasant scene.
  • Speak to your spouse or close companion about death and the next life at least once this week, breaking the tacit pact of mutual forgetfulness.
Reflection Questions
  • Which corner of my shared life am I most invested in keeping undisturbed by thoughts of mortality and Kṛṣṇa?
  • Where has 'naive trust in the future' quietly become the foundation of my daily intimacy and routine?
For Each Age Group
youth
  • Notice when a new relationship or close friend group starts feeling like a private world where exams, parents, and bigger questions can be postponed.
  • Refuse to let late-night chats and shared feeds become the whole horizon of your inner life; bring one real question about death or Kṛṣṇa into them this week.
  • Speak openly with at least one close friend about what you actually believe happens after this body ends, instead of keeping it a polite silence.
householder
  • Audit one comfortable routine with your spouse — evening shows, weekend outings, shared scrolling — and add a small, honest devotional element to it.
  • Refuse to plan the next five years of family life without also planning how each member's sādhana will deepen in that same period.
  • Speak with your spouse this month about old age, illness, and death as practical realities, not as morbid topics to be deferred.
senior
  • Notice where decades of shared habit with a spouse or companion have turned into a soft refusal to face the approaching end of this body.
  • Refuse to let your remaining years be spent maintaining a pleasant tableau; reorganize daily life around hari-nāma, scripture, and association.
  • Speak frankly with your partner and children about your own death and post-mortem wishes, and use that clarity to deepen rather than dull your affection.
Common Pitfalls
  • Reading this verse as a condemnation of married life rather than a warning against viṣaya-absorbed forgetfulness inside any āśrama.
  • Using the verse to justify cold withdrawal from spouse or family in the name of vairāgya, instead of bringing Kṛṣṇa into shared activity.
  • Imagining oneself above 'the loving couple in the forest' while replaying the same pattern in apartments, offices, and feeds.
Discussion Prompts
  • Share one 'forest among the trees' in your own life — a zone of comfort where you act as if time has paused — and let the group challenge it.
  • Where do householders and renunciants in this group disagree on what 'naive trust in the future' actually looks like in 2026?
  • Is companionship itself the problem in this verse, or is it the forgetfulness inside it? Argue both sides before settling.
Role Play

Two students play a long-married couple on a pleasant evening walk, discussing weekend plans, renovations, and retirement; a third plays a Vaiṣṇava friend who gently interrupts to ask what place Kṛṣṇa and death have in their shared picture. The couple must respond honestly, not piously, and the group debriefs what shifted.

Objections & Responses
  • This verse seems to shame ordinary loving couples simply for enjoying daily life together — that feels harsh and life-denying.
    The verse does not condemn affection or shared activity; it diagnoses the naive trust that such activity will continue undisturbed. A Gauḍīya teacher would say: keep the companionship, but place Kṛṣṇa at its center, so resting, eating, and conversing become sādhana rather than sedation.
  • Planning for the future and building a stable shared life is responsible adulthood, not delusion — why frame it as a flaw?
    Responsible planning is not the target; the target is viśrabdha — the unexamined confidence that the arrangement itself will hold. Plan carefully, but plan as someone who knows the body will end and only devotional capital travels forward.
📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

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