|
Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana: Book 11: Chapter 26: Verses 13-24
Fie upon me, a (veritable) fool, though fancying myself to be a learned man, who, blind as I am to my own (real) interests, have been enslaved by women just like a bill! or a donkey, even after attaining sovereignty. Although I have been enjoying the inebriating nectar of Urvasi's lips for multitudes of years, my hankering, mind-born as it is, knows no satiety any more than fire could be quenched by (pouring) oblations (into it). Who else than Lord Visnu (who is above sense-perception), the ruler of those revelling in the Self, can possibly succeed in reclaiming a mind captivated by a lewd woman ? Even though I was admonished by that celestial woman in truthful words (finding place in a Vedic hymn), the great infatuation lurking in my mind, perverse of intellect and uncontrolled of mind as I am, does not depart. Or what offence could have been done by her against us any more than by a rope against a man who, being ignorant of its reality, (erroneously) conceived it to be a serpent ? For, (in reality) it is I, whose senses are (still) uncontrolled, that stand to blame. How incompatible are this dirty body (of a woman), full of bad smell etc., and impure, and the excellences (attributed to it) such as fragrance, purity and delicacy etc., (which are generally associated with a flower). It was through ignorance as a matter of fact that the aforesaid virtues were wrongly attributed (by me) to her body. It cannot be definitely ascertained whether.the body (of a human being) is the property of one's parents, wife (who provides amenities and enjoyment for it), master (employer, if one happens to be a servant) , fire (to which it is ultimately and ordinarily consigned at the time of cremation), the dog and the vulture (by which it is consumed in the event of its being left undisposed of after death), the soul (tenanting it, which reaps the fruit of its actions) or its near and dear ones (who befriend and render good offices to it). Man gets attached to such an impure body, which has a contemptible end (in that it resolves itself into worms if interred, into excreta if devoured by animals and into ashes if cremated), and lavishes praise on it in the words "Oh, how delightful is the face of this woman with a shapely nose and full of charming smiles !" How little difference is there between those who take delight in the body of a woman (which is no more than a mass of skin, flesh, blood, nerves, fat, marrow and bones), (on the one hand) and the worms wallowing in ordure, urine and pus (on the other)? Therefore, he who is alive to his (own) interests should on no account associate even through sight with the fair sex nor with slaves of woman; (for) it is through contact of the senses with their objects that the mind is agitated, not otherwise. No (such) agitation follows from an unseen or unheard of object; (hence) the mind of a man who does not direct his senses towards their objects becomes still and (eventually) gets composed. Therefore, one should not associate through the senses with the fair sex nor with thosedevoted to woman; (for) the five senses and the mind do not deserve to be trusted even by the wise, much less by (indiscreet) men like me.
|
|
