Text 55]
Talks Between Nārada and King Prācīnabarhi
1435
after giving birth to many children and becoming older and older, she demands many things from the husband to maintain the entire family. At such a time the wife becomes detestable to the very man who accepted her in her younger days. One becomes attached to the  grhastha-āśrama  for two reasons only—the wife cooks palatable dishes for the satisfaction of her husband's tongue, and she gives him sexual pleasure at night. A person attached to the  grhastha-āśrama  is always thinking of these two things—palatable food and sex enjoyment. The talks of the wife, which are enjoyed as a family recreation, and the talks of the children both attract the living entity. He thus forgets that he has to die someday and has to prepare for the next life if he wants to be put into a congenial body.
The deer in the flower garden is an allegory used by the great sage Nārada to point out to the King that the King himself is similarly entrapped by such surroundings. Actually everyone is surrounded by such a family life, which misleads one. The living entity thus forgets that he has to return home, back to Godhead. He simply becomes entangled in family life. Prahlāda Mahārāja has therefore hinted:  hitvātma-pātaṁ grham andha-kūpaṁ vanaṁgato yad dharim āśrayeta . Family life is considered a blind well ( andha-kūpaṁ ) into which a person falls and dies without help. Prahlāda Mahārāja recommends that while one's senses are there and one is strong enough, he should abandon the  grhastha-āśrama  and take shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord, going to the forest of Vṛndāvana. According to Vedic civilization, one has to give up family life at a certain age (the age of fifty), take  vānaprastha  and eventually remain alone as a  sannyāsī . That is the prescribed method of Vedic civilization known as  varṇāśrama-dharma . When one takes  sannyāsa  after enjoying family life, he pleases the Supreme Lord Viṣṇu.
One has to understand one's position in family or worldly life. That is called intelligence. One should not remain always trapped in family life to satisfy his tongue and genitals in association with a wife. In such a way, one simply spoils his life. According to Vedic civilization, it is imperative to give up the family at a certain stage, by force if necessary. Unfortunately, so-called followers of Vedic life do not give up their family even at the end of life, unless they are forced by death. There should be a thorough overhauling of the social system, and society should revert to the Vedic principles, that is, the four  varṇas  and the four  āśramas .
TEXT 55
स त्वं विचक्ष्य मृगचेष्टितमात्मनोऽन्त-
श्चित्तं नियच्छ हृदि कर्णधुनीं च चित्ते ।