|
TEXT 5
drstvanuyantam rsim atmajam apy anagnam
devyo hriya paridadhur na sutasya citram
tad viksya prcchati munau jagadus tavasti
stri-pum-bhida na tu sutasya vivikta-drsteh
SYNONYMS
drstvaby seeing; anuyantamfollowing; rsimthe sage; atmajamhis son; apiin spite of; anagnamnot naked; devyahbeautiful damsels; hriyaout of shyness; paridadhuhcovered the body; nanot; sutasyaof the son; citramastonishing; tat viksyaby seeing that; prcchatiasking; munauunto the muni (Vyasa); jagaduhreplied; tavayour; astithere are; stri-pummale and female; bhidadifferences; nanot; tubut; sutasyaof the son; viviktapurified; drstehof one who looks.
 While Sri Vyasadeva was following his son, beautiful young damsels who were bathing naked covered their bodies with cloth, although Sri Vyasadeva himself was not naked. But they had not done so when his son had passed. TRANSLATION
While Sri Vyasadeva was following his son, beautiful young damsels who were bathing naked covered their bodies with cloth, although Sri Vyasadeva himself was not naked. But they had not done so when his son had passed. The sage inquired about this, and the young ladies replied that his son was purified and when looking at them made no distinction between male and female. But the sage made such distinctions.
PURPORT
In the Bhagavad-gita (5.18) it is said that a learned sage looks equally on a learned and gentle brahmana, a candala (dog-eater), a dog or a cow due to his spiritual vision. Srila Sukadeva Gosvami attained that stage. Thus he did not see a male or female; he saw all living entities in different dress. The ladies who were bathing could understand the mind of a man simply by studying his demeanor, just as by looking at a child one can understand how innocent he is. Sukadeva Gosvami was a young boy sixteen years old, and therefore all the parts of his body were developed. He was naked also, and so were the ladies. But because Sukadeva Gosvami was transcendental to sex relations, he appeared very innocent. The ladies, by their special qualifications, could sense this at once, and therefore they were not very concerned about him. But when his father passed, the ladies quickly dressed. The ladies were exactly like his children or grandchildren, yet they reacted to the presence of Vyasadeva according to the social custom because Srila Vyasadeva played the part of a householder. A householder has to distinguish between a male and female, otherwise he cannot be a householder. One should, therefore, attempt to know the distinction between spirit soul without any attachment for male and female. As long as such distinction is there, one should not try to become a sannyasi like Sukadeva Gosvami. At least theoretically one must be convinced that a living entity is neither male nor female. The outward dress is made of matter by material nature to attract the opposite sex and thus keep one entangled in material existence. A liberated soul is above this perverted distinction. He does not distinguish between one living being and another. For him they are all one and the same spirit. The perfection of this spiritual vision is the liberated stage, and Srila Sukadeva Gosvami attained that stage. Srila Vyasadeva was also in the transcendental stage, but because he was in the householder's life, he did not pretend to be a liberated soul, as a matter of custom.
Link to this page: https://prabhupadabooks.com/sb/1/4/5 
|