ŚB 10.20.37
Canto 10, Chapter 20, Text 37
यथायुरन्वहं क्षय्यं नरा मूढा: कुटुम्बिन: ॥ ३७ ॥
jalaṁ gādha-jale-carāḥ
yathāyur anv-ahaṁ kṣayyaṁ
narā mūḍhāḥ kuṭumbinaḥ
Word by word
na — not; eva — indeed; avidan — appreciated; kṣīyamāṇam — diminishing; jalam — the water; gādha-jale — in shallow water; carāḥ — those who move; yathā — as; āyuḥ — their life span; anu-aham — every day; kṣayyam — diminishing; narāḥ — men; mūḍhāḥ — foolish; kuṭumbinaḥ — living with family members.
Translation
The fish swimming in the increasingly shallow water did not at all understand that the water was diminishing, just as foolish family men cannot see how the time they have left to live is diminishing with every passing day.
Purport
After the rainy season the water gradually goes down, but stupid fish do not understand this; thus they are often stranded on the lakeshores and riverbanks. Similarly, those infatuated with family life do not understand that the remainder of their life is constantly decreasing; thus they fail to perfect their Kṛṣṇa consciousness and are stranded in the cycle of birth and death.