Skandham-5. Chapter-2. Slokam-7. :

Skandham-5. Chapter-2. Slokam-7.


The Prince mistakenly addressed the Apsara: O best of saintly persons, who
are you? Why are you on this hill, and what do you want to do? Are you one of
the illusory potencies of the Supreme Personality of Godhead? You seem to be
carrying two bows without strings, What is the reason you carry these bows? Is
it for some purpose of your own or for the sake of a friend? Perhaps you carry
them to kill the mad animals in this forest.


While undergoing severe penances in the forest, Agnidhra was captivated
by the movements of Purvacitti, the girl sent by Lord Brahma. As stated in
Bhagavad-geeta kamais tais tair hrta jnanah: [Bg. 7.20] when one becomes lusty,
he loses his intelligence. Therefore Agnidhra, having lost his intelligence,
could not distinguish whether Purvacitti was male or female. He mistook her
for a muni-putra, the son of a saintly person in the forest, and addressed her as
muni-varya. Because of her personal beauty, however, he could not believe her
to be a boy. He therefore began studying her features. First he saw her two
eyebrows, which were so expressive that he wondered whether he or she might
be the maya of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The words used in this
connection are bhagavat-para-devatayah. Devatah, the demigods, all belong to
this material world, whereas Bhagavan, the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
Krishna, is always beyond this material world and is therefore known as
para-devata. The material world is certainly created by maya, but it is created
under the direction of para-devata, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As
confirmed in Bhagavad-geeta(mayadhyaksena prakrtih suyate sa-caracaram [Bg.
9.10]), maya is not the ultimate authority for the creation of this material
world. Maya acts on behalf of Krishna.


Purvacitti's eyebrows were so beautiful that Agnidhra compared them to
bows without strings. He therefore asked her whether they were to be used for
her own purposes or for the sake of someone else. Her eyebrows were like bows
meant to kill animals in the forest. This material world is like a great forest,
and its inhabitants are like forest animals such as deer and tigers meant to be
killed. The killers are the eyebrows of beautiful women. Captivated by the
beauty of the fair sex, all the men of the world are killed by bows without
strings, but cannot see how they are killed by maya. It is a fact, however, that
they are being killed (bhutva bhutva praliyate)[Bg. 8.19]. By dint of his tapasya,
Agnidhra could understand how maya acts under the direction of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead.


The word pramattan is also significant. pramatta refers to one who cannot
control his senses. The entire material world is being exploited by people who
are pramatta, or vimudha. Prahlada Maharaja therefore said:


"They are rotting in material activities for transient material pleasure and
spoiling their lives toiling all day and night simply for sense gratification, with
no attachment for love of Godhead. I am simply lamenting for them and
devising various plans to deliver them from the clutches of maya." (SB 7.9.43)
Karmis who act very seriously for sense gratification are always referred to in
the Sastras by such terms as pramatta, vimukha and vimudha. They are killed by
maya. However, one who is apramatta, a sane, sober person, a dhira, knows very
well that a human being's primary duty is to render service to the Supreme
Person. Maya is always ready to kill those who are pramatta with her invisible
bows and arrows. Agnidhra questioned Purvacitti about this.