Devanagari
प्रजापति: स्वां दुहितरं दृष्ट्वा तद्रूपधर्षित: ।
रोहिद्भूतां सोऽन्वधावदृक्षरूपी हतत्रप: ॥ ३६ ॥
Verse text
prajāpatiḥ svāṁ duhitaraṁ
dṛṣṭvā tad-rūpa-dharṣitaḥ
rohid-bhūtāṁ so ’nvadhāvad
ṛkṣa-rūpī hata-trapaḥ
Synonyms
prajā
—
patiḥ — Lord Brahmā
;
svām
—
his own
;
duhitaram
—
daughter
;
dṛṣṭvā
—
having seen
;
tat
—
rūpa — by her charms
;
dharṣitaḥ
—
bewildered
;
rohit
—
bhūtām — to her in the form of a deer
;
saḥ
—
he
;
anvadhāvat
—
ran
;
ṛkṣa
—
rūpī — in the form of a stag
;
hata
—
bereft of
;
trapaḥ
—
shame .
Translation
At the sight of his own daughter, Brahmā was bewildered by her charms and shamelessly ran up to her in the form of a stag when she took the form of a hind.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Brahmā, seeing his own daughter, became bewildered, and taking the form of a stag, devoid of shame, pursued her when she took the form of a doe.
One should not say that a woman cannot bewilder the intelligence of great souls endowed with discriminating knowledge. Brahmā, taking the form of a buck (rohid-bhūtam), pursued his daughter in the form of a doe.
Purport
Lord Brahmā’s being captivated by the charms of his daughter and Lord Śiva’s being captivated by the Mohinī form of the Lord are specific instances which instruct us that even great demigods like Brahmā and Lord Śiva, what to speak of the ordinary conditioned soul, are captivated by the beauty of woman. Therefore, everyone is advised that one should not freely mix even with one’s daughter, mother or sister because the senses are so strong that when one becomes infatuated the senses do not consider the relationship of daughter, mother or sister. It is best, therefore, to practice controlling the senses by performing
bhakti-yoga,
engaging in the service of Madana-mohana. Lord Kṛṣṇa’s name is Madana-mohana, for He can subdue the god Cupid, or lust. Only by engaging in the service of Madana-mohana can one curb the dictates of Madana, Cupid. Otherwise, attempts to control the senses will fail.