Devanagari
पिङ्गलोवाच
अहो मे मोहविततिं पश्यताविजितात्मन: ।
या कान्तादसत: कामं कामये येन बालिशा ॥ ३० ॥
Verse text
piṅgalovāca
aho me moha-vitatiṁ
paśyatāvijitātmanaḥ
yā kāntād asataḥ kāmaṁ
kāmaye yena bāliśā
Synonyms
piṅgalā
—
Piṅgalā
;
uvāca
—
said
;
aho
—
oh
;
me
—
my
;
moha
—
of illusion
;
vitatim
—
expansion
;
paśyata
—
just see, everyone
;
avijita
—
ātmanaḥ — of one whose mind is not controlled
;
yā
—
which person (me)
;
kāntāt
—
from a lover
;
asataḥ
—
useless, insignificant
;
kāmam
—
lusty pleasure
;
kāmaye
—
I desire
;
yena
—
because
;
bāliśā
—
I am a fool .
Translation
The prostitute Piṅgalā said: Just see how greatly illusioned I am! Because I cannot control my mind, just like a fool I desire lusty pleasure from an insignificant man.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Piṅgalā said: See the extent of my illusion! Because I cannot control my mind, I desire love from an insignificant man. By this I have become a fool.
I desire love. Because of that love I have become a fool.
Purport
In material existence all of the senses are attracted by different objects, and thus the conditioned soul becomes a first-class fool. The cause of material life is one’s indifference to the Absolute Truth. The conditioned soul considers himself to be the lord and enjoyer of the material world and considers the purpose of life to be sense gratification. The more one tries to enjoy the material world, the more one’s illusion increases.
It appears from this verse that the prostitute Piṅgalā was not only earning her livelihood through prostitution, but was actually enjoying her illicit contact with innumerable men. The words
kāntād asataḥ
indicate that she was freely selling herself without discrimination to the most ordinary and useless men, considering them to be “lovers.” Thus she says, “I was a great fool.” The word
bāliśā
means “one who has a childish mentality, without practical experience of right and wrong.”