TEXT 12
vibudhasura-gandharva-
muni-siddha-naroragah
vijitah suryaya diksu
kvanayantyaiva nupuraih
SYNONYMS
vibudhalearned; asurathe demons; gandharvathe denizens of Gandharvaloka; munigreat sages; siddhathe denizens of Siddhaloka; narathe inhabitants of the earthly planets; uragahdenizens of Nagaloka; vijitahcaptivated; suryayaby the new bride; diksuin all directions; kvanayantyatinkling; evaonly; nupuraihby her ankle bells.
TRANSLATION
While Satadruti was thus being married, the demons, the denizens of Gandharvaloka, the great sages, and the denizens of Siddhaloka, the earthly planets and Nagaloka, although highly exalted, were all captivated by the tinkling of her ankle bells.
PURPORT
Generally a woman becomes more beautiful when, after an early marriage, she gives birth to a child. To give birth to a child is the natural function of a woman, and therefore a woman becomes more and more beautiful as she gives birth to one child after another. In the case of Satadruti, however, she was so beautiful that she attracted the whole universe at her marriage ceremony. Indeed, she attracted all the learned and exalted demigods simply by the tinkling of her ankle bells. This indicates that all the demigods wanted to see her beauty completely, but they were not able to see it because she was fully dressed and covered with ornaments. Since they could only see the feet of Satadruti, they became attracted by her ankle bells, which tinkled as she walked. In other words, the demigods became captivated by her simply by hearing the tinkling of her ankle bells. They did not have to see her complete beauty. It is sometimes understood that a person becomes lusty just by hearing the tinkling of bangles on the hands of women or the tinkling of ankle bells, or just by seeing a womans sari. Thus it is concluded that woman is the complete representation of maya. Although Visvamitra Muni was engaged in practicing mystic yoga with closed eyes, his transcendental meditation was broken when he heard the tinkling of bangles on the hands of Menaka. In this way Visvamitra Muni became a victim of Menaka and fathered a child who is universally celebrated as Sakuntala. The conclusion is that no one can save himself from the attraction of woman, even though he be an exalted demigod or an inhabitant of the higher planets. Only a devotee of the Lord, who is attracted by Krsna, can escape the lures of woman. Once one is attracted by Krsna, the illusory energy of the world cannot attract him.

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