SB 9.19.10 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

तस्यतत्र द्विज: कश्चिदजास्वाम्यच्छिनद् रुषा । लम्बन्तं वृषणं भूय: सन्दधेऽर्थाय योगवित् ॥ १० ॥

Verse text

tasya tatra dvijaḥ kaścid ajā-svāmy acchinad ruṣā lambantaṁ vṛṣaṇaṁ bhūyaḥ sandadhe ’rthāya yogavit

Synonyms

tasya — of the he-goat ; tatra — thereupon ; dvijaḥ — brāhmaṇa ; kaścit — some ; ajā — svāmī — the maintainer of another she-goat ; acchinat — castrated, made effeminate ; ruṣā — out of anger ; lambantam — long ; vṛṣaṇam — testicles ; bhūyaḥ — again ; sandadhe — joined ; arthāya — for self-interest ; yoga — vit — expert in the power of mystic yoga. .

Translation

The she-goat went to the residence of a brāhmaṇa who was the maintainer of another she-goat, and that brāhmaṇa angrily cut off the he-goat’s dangling testicles. But at the he-goat’s request, the brāhmaṇa later rejoined them by the power of mystic yoga.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

The she-goat went to the residence of a brāhmaṇa who was the maintainer of another she-goat, and that brāhmaṇa angrily cut off the he-goat's dangling testicles. But at the he-goat's request, the expert brāhmaṇa later rejoined them. The brāhmaṇa was Śukrācārya. He was the husband of another she-goat, his wife. He cut off his testicles. This means he made him incapable of enjoyment by giving him old age. Then, being pleased, he put them back as before for giving sexual enjoyment. He gave him youth in exchange for his old age. Yogavit means expert.

Purport

Here Śukrācārya is figuratively described as the husband of another she-goat. This indicates that the relationship between husband and wife in any society, whether higher or lower than human society, is nothing but the same relationship between he-goat and she-goat, for the material relationship between man and woman is one of sex. Yan maithunādi-gṛhamedhi-sukhaṁ hi tuccham . Śukrācārya was an ācārya, or expert, in family affairs, which involve the transfer of semen from he-goat to she-goat. The words kaścid ajā-svāmī expressly indicate herein that Śukrācārya was no better than Yayāti, for both of them were interested in family affairs generated by śukra, or semen. Śukrācārya first cursed Yayāti to become old so that he could no longer indulge in sex, but when Śukrācārya saw that Yayāti’s emasculation would make his own daughter a victim of punishment, he used his mystic power to restore Yayāti’s masculinity. Because he used his power of mystic yoga for family affairs and not to realize the Supreme Personality of Godhead, this exercise in the magic of yoga was no better than the affairs of he-goats and she-goats. Yogic power should properly be used to realize the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As the Lord Himself recommends in Bhagavad-gītā (6.47) : yoginām api sarveṣāṁ mad-gatenāntarātmanā śraddhāvān bhajate yo māṁ sa me yuktatamo mataḥ “Of all yogīs, he who always abides in Me with great faith, worshiping Me in transcendental loving service, is most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all.”