Devanagari
दृष्ट्वानुयान्तमृषिमात्मजमप्यनग्नं
देव्यो ह्रिया परिदधुर्न सुतस्य चित्रम् ।
तद्वीक्ष्य पृच्छति मुनौ जगदुस्तवास्ति
स्त्रीपुम्भिदा न तु सुतस्य विविक्तदृष्टे: ॥ ५ ॥
Verse text
dṛṣṭvānuyāntam ṛṣim ātmajam apy anagnaṁ
devyo hriyā paridadhur na sutasya citram
tad vīkṣya pṛcchati munau jagadus tavāsti
strī-pum-bhidā na tu sutasya vivikta-dṛṣṭeḥ
Synonyms
dṛṣṭvā
—
by seeing
;
anuyāntam
—
following
;
ṛṣim
—
the sage
;
ātmajam
—
his son
;
api
—
in spite of
;
anagnam
—
not naked
;
devyaḥ
—
beautiful damsels
;
hriyā
—
out of shyness
;
paridadhuḥ
—
covered the body
;
na
—
not
;
sutasya
—
of the son
;
citram
—
astonishing
;
tat vīkṣya
—
by seeing that
;
pṛcchati
—
asking
;
munau
—
unto the muni (Vyāsa)
;
jagaduḥ
—
replied
;
tava
—
your
;
asti
—
there are
;
strī
—
pum — male and female
;
bhidā
—
differences
;
na
—
not
;
tu
—
but
;
sutasya
—
of the son
;
vivikta
—
purified
;
dṛṣṭeḥ
—
of one who looks .
Translation
While Śrī Vyāsadeva was following his son, beautiful young damsels who were bathing naked covered their bodies with cloth, although Śrī Vyāsadeva 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.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The young women playing in the water, on seeing the clothed Vyāsa, pursuing his naked son who had left home, became bashful and put on their clothing. Vyāsa was astonished that they were not embarrassed when his naked son passed by. When Vyāsa asked them the reason, they replied, “You make distinctions of male and female and he does not. He has pure eyes.”
Purport
In the
Bhagavad-gītā
(5.18)
it is said that a learned sage looks equally on a learned and gentle
brāhmaṇa,
a
caṇḍāla
(dog-eater), a dog or a cow due to his spiritual vision. Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī 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. Śukadeva Gosvāmī 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 Śukadeva Gosvāmī 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 Vyāsadeva according to the social custom because Śrīla Vyāsadeva 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 body and soul without any attachment for male and female. As long as such distinction is there, one should not try to become a
sannyāsī
like Śukadeva Gosvāmī. 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 Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī attained that stage. Śrīla Vyāsadeva 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.
Commentary (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
This verse shows Śukadeva’s absorption in brahman (nirvikalpakaḥ). Seeing Vyāsa with clothing on, who was following his son as he left home, the women, who were playing in the water, became bashful, and put their clothing on. They did not do so on seeing Śukadeva, his son. That is astonishing. “Aah! The women were not bashful on seeing my naked, young son looking everywhere. On the other hand, seeing me, an old man wearing clothes, who did not even look at them, since I understood that women were playing in the water, they became bashful. I will ask them the reason.” When he asked, they said, “You make distinctions, thinking ‘this is a man, or this is a woman.’ Your son does not do this.” How did this situation arise? Your son has pure eyes (vivkta-dṛṣṭeḥ). We young women, skilful in the arts, have the power to know the inner truth of men and women just by looking at their eyes.”