Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 3.23.36-37
Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devoteesBeauty Can Attract Even a Sage
“The sage could see that Devahūti had washed herself clean and was shining forth as though no longer his former wife. She had regained her own original beauty as the daughter of a prince. Dressed in excellent robes, her charming breasts duly girded, she was waited upon by a thousand Gandharva girls. O destroyer of the enemy, his fondness for her grew, and he placed her on the aerial mansion.”
What the purport teaches
- While serving Kardama Muni in his cottage, Devahūti had lacked the means to care for herself like a princess. Her former royal beauty had faded.
- After the Gandharva girls bathed her, she regained her original beauty. Kardama Muni’s fondness grew, and he placed her aboard the aerial mansion.
- Even a great sage could feel attracted by bodily beauty. Śrīpāda Śaṅkarācārya therefore warns those seeking transcendental realization not to be attracted by breasts, which are an interaction of fat and blood.
Try this today
When bodily beauty catches your attention today, pause briefly and remember the purport’s warning to transcendentalists.
Ask yourself
How can remembering the body’s physical composition help you examine attraction?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
The study points, practice and question are short summaries drawn from Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport. Read the full purport to go deeper.