Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 11.26.18
Mukti· LiberationSee Beyond the Covering of Beauty
“What is this polluted body anyway — so filthy and full of bad odors? I was attracted by the fragrance and beauty of a woman’s body, but what are those so-called attractive features? They are simply a false covering created by illusion.”
What the purport teaches
- Purūravā questions the fragrance and beauty that had attracted him to Urvaśī's body. He recognizes them as a false covering created by illusion.
- The purport describes the body as containing stool, gas, bile, mucus, hairs and other repugnant elements. Its attractive surface conceals its material contents.
- By seeing through his former fascination, Purūravā is becoming sane. His judgment is no longer ruled entirely by bodily attraction.
Try this today
When bodily beauty captures your attention today, briefly remember that appearance conceals the body's ordinary material contents.
Ask yourself
How does outward beauty influence my judgment of what is truly desirable?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
From Canto 10, chapter 14 onward, the translation and purports were completed by Śrīla Prabhupāda's disciples after his departure, and published by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.