Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 5.25.5
Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devoteesSpiritual Love Is Not Material Lust
“Lord Ananta’s arms are attractively long, beautifully decorated with bangles and completely spiritual. They are white, and so they appear like silver columns. When the beautiful princesses of the serpent kings, hoping for the Lord’s auspicious blessing, smear His arms with aguru pulp, sandalwood pulp and kuṅkuma, the touch of His limbs awakens lusty desires within them. Understanding their minds, the Lord looks at the princesses with a merciful smile, and they become bashful, realizing that He knows their desires. Then they smile beautifully and look upon the Lord’s lotus face, which is beautified by reddish eyes rolling slightly from intoxication and delighted by love for His devotees.”
What the purport teaches
- Lord Ananta and the princesses serving Him have spiritual bodies. The purport explains that all sensations originally exist in the spiritual body.
- Spiritual lust and material lust differ as completely as gold and iron. The Lord understands the princesses’ desires and responds with a merciful smile.
- Only those highly advanced in spiritual realization can understand these intimate exchanges. The purport cautions beginners against discussing them, while explaining that sincere, pure devotees become free from material lust through such discussion.
Try this today
Reread the comparison of gold and iron, and remind yourself not to judge spiritual love by material experience.
Ask yourself
Am I careful not to interpret the Lord’s spiritual exchanges as ordinary material desires?
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.