Canto 3: The Status QuoChapter 20: Conversation Between Maitreya and Vidura

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.20.31

gūhantīḿ vrīḍayātmānaḿ

nīlālaka-varūthinīm

upalabhyāsurā dharma

sarve sammumuhuḥ striyam

SYNONYMS

gūhantīm — hiding; vrīḍayā — out of shyness; ātmānam — herself; nīla — dark; alaka — hair; varūthinīma bunch; upalabhya — upon imagining; asurāḥ — the demons; dharmaO Vidura; sarve — all; sammumuhuḥ — were captivated; striyam — woman.

TRANSLATION

Adorned with dark tresses, she hid herself, as it were, out of shyness. Upon seeing that girl, the asuras were all infatuated with an appetite for sex.

PURPORT

The difference between demons and demigods is that a beautiful woman very easily attracts the minds of demons, but she cannot attract the mind of a godly person. A godly person is full of knowledge, and a demoniac person is full of ignorance. Just as a child is attracted by a beautiful doll, similarly a demon, who is less intelligent and full of ignorance, is attracted by material beauty and an appetite for sex. The godly person knows that this nicely dressed and ornamented attraction of high breasts, high hips, beautiful nose and fair complexion is māyā. All the beauty a woman can display is only a combination of flesh and blood. Śrī Śańkarācārya has advised all persons not to be attracted by the interaction of flesh and blood; they should be attracted by the real beauty In spiritual life. The real beauty is Kṛṣṇa and Rādhā. One who is attracted by the beauty of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa cannot be attracted by the false beauty of this material world. That is the difference between a demon and a godly person or devotee.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness