Text 9
tāṁ tīkṣṇa-cittām ativāma-ceṣṭitāṁ
vīkṣyāntarā koṣa-paricchadāsivat
vara-striyaṁ tat-prabhayā ca dharṣite
nirīkṣyamāṇe jananī hy atiṣṭhatām
tām — that (Pūtanā Rākṣasī); tīkṣṇa-cittām — having a very fierce heart for killing the child; ati-vāma-ceṣṭitām — although she was trying to treat the child better than a mother; vīkṣya antarā — seeing her within the room; koṣa-paricchada-asi-vat — like a sharp sword within a soft sheath; vara-striyam — the very beautiful woman; tat-prabhayā — by her influence; ca — also; dharṣite — being overwhelmed; nirīkṣyamāṇe — were seeing; jananī — the two mothers; hi — indeed; atiṣṭhatām — they remained silent, without prohibiting.
Pūtanā Rākṣasī’s heart was fierce and cruel, but she looked like a very affectionate mother. Thus she resembled a sharp sword in a soft sheath. Although seeing her within the room, Yaśodā and Rohiṇī, overwhelmed by her beauty, did not stop her, but remained silent because she treated the child like a mother.
Although Pūtanā was an outsider and although she personified fierce death because the determination within her heart was to kill the child, when she directly came and placed the child on her lap to offer the child her breast to suck, the mothers were so captivated by her beauty that they did not prohibit her. Sometimes a beautiful woman is dangerous because everyone, being captivated by external beauty (māyā-mohita), is unable to understand what is in her mind. Those who are captivated by the beauty of the external energy are called māyā-mohita. Mohitaṁ nābhijānāti mām ebhyaḥ param avyayam (Bg. 7.13). Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇuṁ durāśayā ye bahir-artha-māninaḥ (Bhāg. 7.5.31). Here, of course, the two mothers Rohiṇī and Yaśodā were not māyā-mohita, deluded by the external energy, but to develop the pastimes of the Lord, they were captivated by Yoga-māyā. Such māyā-moha is the action of Yoga-māyā.