Devanagari
श्रीभगवानुवाच
कौतूहलाय दैत्यानां योषिद्वेषो मया धृत: । पश्यता सुरकार्याणि गते पीयूषभाजने ॥ १५ ॥
Verse text
śrī-bhagavān uvāca
kautūhalāya daityānāṁ
yoṣid-veṣo mayā dhṛtaḥ
paśyatā sura-kāryāṇi
gate pīyūṣa-bhājane
Synonyms
śrī
—
bhagavān uvāca — the Supreme Personality of Godhead said
;
kautūhalāya
—
for the bewildering
;
daityānām
—
of the demons
;
yoṣit
—
veṣaḥ — the form of a beautiful woman
;
mayā
—
by Me
;
dhṛtaḥ
—
assumed
;
paśyatā
—
seeing that it is necessary for Me
;
sura
—
kāryāṇi — for executing the interests of the demigods
;
gate
—
having been taken away
;
pīyūṣa
—
bhājane — the jug of nectar .
Translation
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: When the demons took away the jug of nectar, I assumed the form of a beautiful woman to bewilder them by directly cheating them and thus to act in the interest of the demigods.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The Supreme Lord said: When the demons took away the jug of nectar, I assumed the form of a woman to bewilder them, acting in the interest of the devatās, in order to take away the pot of nectar.
I took this very astonishing form of a woman which would bewilder the demons. But this is insignificant for you. It cannot bewilder you, who have powers of yoga. It is not possible for a deer to harm a hunter. This would be bewildering to the demons but not to the devatās, since the devatās were situated in sattva. “What was your intention in doing this to the insignificant demons?” I saw the interest of the devatās. I had no other motive.
Purport
When the Supreme Personality of Godhead assumed the form of the beautiful woman Mohinī-mūrti, the demons were certainly captivated, but the demigods present were not. In other words, those who maintain a demoniac mentality are bewildered by the beauty of a woman, but those who are advanced in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, or even those on the platform of goodness, are not bewildered. The Supreme Personality of Godhead knew that because Lord Śiva is not an ordinary person, he cannot be bewildered even by the most beautiful woman. Cupid himself tried to invoke Lord Śiva’s lusty desires in the presence of Pārvatī, but Lord Śiva was never agitated. Rather, the blazing fire from Lord Śiva’s eyes turned Cupid to ashes. Therefore, Lord Viṣṇu had to think twice about what kind of beautiful form would bewilder even Lord Śiva. Consequently He was smiling gravely, as stated in the previous verse (
prahasya bhāva-gambhīram
). A beautiful woman generally cannot induce Lord Śiva to be lusty, but Lord Viṣṇu was considering whether there was any form of woman who could enchant him.