FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 9.11.17

स्त्रीपुंप्रसङ्ग एताद‍ृक्सर्वत्र त्रासमावह: । अपीश्वराणां किमुत ग्राम्यस्य गृहचेतस: ॥ १७ ॥
strī-puṁ-prasaṅga etādṛk
[stree-pum-prasanga etaadrik]
sarvatra trāsam-āvahaḥ
[sarvatra traasam-aavahah]
apīśvarāṇāṁ kim uta
[apeeshvaraanaam kim uta]
grāmyasya gṛha-cetasaḥ
[graamyasya griha-chetasah]
Word-for-word
strī-pum-prasaṅgaḥ — attraction between husband and wife, or man and woman etādṛk — like this sarvatra — everywhere trāsam-āvahaḥ — the cause of fear api — even īśvarāṇām — of controllers kim uta — and what to speak of grāmyasya — of ordinary men of this material world gṛha-cetasaḥ — who are attached to materialistic household life.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
strī-puṁ-prasaṅga etādṛk
strī-pum-prasaṅgaḥ
attraction between husband and wife, or man and woman
etādṛk
like this
sarvatra trāsam-āvahaḥ
sarvatra
everywhere
trāsam-āvahaḥ
the cause of fear
apīśvarāṇāṁ kim uta
api
even
īśvarāṇām
of controllers
kim uta
and what to speak of
grāmyasya gṛha-cetasaḥ
grāmyasya
of ordinary men of this material world
gṛha-cetasaḥ
who are attached to materialistic household life.
The attraction between man and woman, or male and female, always exists everywhere, making everyone always fearful. Such feelings are present even among the controllers like Brahmā and Lord Śiva and is the cause of fear for them, what to speak of others who are attached to household life in this material world.
Purport

As explained above, when the feelings of love and transcendental bliss from the spiritual world are pervertedly reflected in this material world, they are certainly the cause of bondage. As long as men feel attracted to women in this material world and women feel attracted to men, the bondage of repeated birth and death will continue. But in the spiritual world, where there is no fear of birth and death, such feelings of separation are the cause of transcendental bliss. In the absolute reality there are varieties of feeling, but all of them are of the same quality of transcendental bliss.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Such attraction between man and woman is a cause of saṁsāra even for Brahmā and others in this life and the next. What to speak of the common people who are attached to their houses? Others, attached to lust, remember women and sink in saṁsāra. Irregular sandhi in strī-puṁ-prasaṅga is poetic license. This attachment exists even for Brahmā and others, producing saṁsāra (trāsam) in this world and the next (sarvatra) since it is material and arises from lust. Trāsam-āvahaḥ should also be in the genitive case. This is indicated by the word etādṛk: it appears to be the case of Rāma and Sītā also. There is a semblance of material association in their relationship but it is not factual, since their relationship is spiritual and arises from prema. Therefore this statement applies to the devatās but not to the Lord.
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
Male-female attraction makes even Brahmā and Śiva fearful — what of household sufferers like us? The śāstra is not prudish but realistic about how powerful this current is and how vulnerable everyone, however advanced, remains.
Reflection Questions
  • Where am I assuming I am 'past' a vulnerability that even great souls remain wary of?
  • What safeguards have I put in place that match the actual size of the danger?
📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

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