Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 11.30.3
Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devoteesKṛṣṇa’s Spiritual Beauty Attracts and Liberates
“Once their eyes were fixed upon His transcendental form, women were unable to withdraw them, and once that form had entered the ears of the sages and become fixed in their hearts, it would never depart. What to speak of acquiring fame, the great poets who described the beauty of the Lord’s form would have their words invested with transcendentally pleasing attraction. And by seeing that form on Arjuna’s chariot, all the warriors on the battlefield of Kurukṣetra attained the liberation of gaining a spiritual body similar to the Lord’s.”
What the purport teaches
- The gopīs of Vṛndāvana and Rukmiṇī constantly meditated on the Lord’s spiritual body. Liberated sages heard about His form and could not take it out of their hearts.
- The Lord’s bodily beauty expanded the love and poetic expression of great liberated poets. Their descriptions became transcendentally pleasing.
- By seeing Kṛṣṇa on Arjuna’s chariot, the warriors at Kurukṣetra attained eternal spiritual bodies similar to His. His liberating form cannot be material or something He abandons.
Try this today
Reread the description of the sages and spend a quiet minute keeping the Lord’s spiritual form in mind.
Ask yourself
What does the effect of Kṛṣṇa’s beauty on these devotees and warriors reveal about His form?
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.