क्वचिद् गृहाश्रमकर्मचोदनातिभरगिरिमारुरुक्षमाणो लोकव्यसनकर्षितमना: कण्टकशर्कराक्षेत्रं प्रविशन्निव सीदति ॥ १८ ॥
kvacid grhasrama-karma-codanati-bhara-girim aruruksamano loka-vyasana-karsita-manah kantaka-sarkara-ksetram pravisann iva sidati.
- kvacit
- sometimes
- grha-asrama
- in householder life
- karma-codana
- of the rules of fruitive activity
- ati-bhara-girim
- the big hill
- aruruksamanah
- desiring to ascend
- loka
- material
- vyasana
- to pursuits
- karsita-manah
- whose mind is attracted
- kantaka-sarkara-ksetram
- a field covered with thorns and sharp pebbles
- pravisan
- entering
- iva
- like
- sidati
- he laments.
In household life one is ordered to execute many yajnas and fruitive activities, especially the vivaha-yajna (the marriage ceremony for sons and daughters) and the sacred thread ceremony. These are all the duties of a grhastha, and they are very extensive and troublesome to execute. They are compared to a big hill over which one must cross when one is attached to material activities. A person desiring to cross over these ritualistic ceremonies certainly feels pains like the piercing of thorns and pebbles endured by one attempting to climb a hill. Thus the conditioned soul suffers unlimitedly.