SB 3.20.38 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

प्रहस्य भावगम्भीरं जिघ्रन्त्यात्मानमात्मना । कान्त्या ससर्ज भगवान् गन्धर्वाप्सरसां गणान् ॥ ३८ ॥

Verse text

prahasya bhāva-gambhīraṁ jighrantyātmānam ātmanā kāntyā sasarja bhagavān gandharvāpsarasāṁ gaṇān

Synonyms

prahasya — smiling ; bhāva — gambhīram — with a deep purpose ; jighrantyā — understanding ; ātmānam — himself ; ātmanā — by himself ; kāntyā — by his loveliness ; sasarja — created ; bhagavān — the worshipful Lord Brahmā ; gandharva — the celestial musicians ; apsarasām — and of the heavenly dancing girls ; gaṇān — the hosts of .

Translation

With a laugh full of deep significance, the worshipful Brahmā then evolved by his own loveliness, which seemed to enjoy itself by itself, the hosts of Gandharvas and Apsarās.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Smiling to reveal his inscrutable intention, Brahmā then created the Gandharvas and Apsarās by his beauty which he had relished. When Brahmā remembered beauty, the Gandharvas appeared and the beauty became moon light. The Gandharvas accepted the light. Because of the custom of identifying the beauty with the possessor of beauty, it is stated that his beauty smelled itself by itself (though Brahmā smelled). Smiling and smelling are signs of relishing his own beauty.

Purport

The musicians in the upper planetary systems are called Gandharvas, and the dancing girls are called Apsarās. After being attacked by the demons and evolving a form of a beautiful woman in the twilight, Brahmā next created Gandharvas and Apsarās. Music and dancing employed in sense gratification are to be accepted as demoniac, but the same music and dancing, when employed in glorifying the Supreme Lord as kīrtana, are transcendental, and they bring about a life completely fit for spiritual enjoyment.