Text 23
sā tvaṁ mukhaṁ sudati subhrv anurāga-bhāra-
vrīḍā-vilamba-vilasad-dhasitāvalokam
nīlālakālibhir upaskṛtam unnasaṁ naḥ
svānāṁ pradarśaya manasvini valgu-vākyam
sā — that (you, my wife); tvam — you; mukham — your face; su-dati — with beautiful teeth; su-bhru — with beautiful eyebrows; anurāga — attachment; bhāra — loaded by; vrīḍā — feminine shyness; vilamba — hanging down; vilasat — shining; hasita — smiling; avalokam — with glances; nīla — bluish; alaka — with hair; alibhiḥ — beelike; upaskṛtam — thus being beautiful; unnasam — with a raised nose; naḥ — to me; svānām — who am yours; pradarśaya — please show; manasvini — O most thoughtful lady; valgu-vākyam — with sweet words.
My dear wife, your teeth are very beautifully set, and your attractive features make you appear very thoughtful. Kindly give up your anger, be merciful upon me, and please smile upon me with loving attachment. When I see a smile on your beautiful face, and when I see your hair, which is as beautiful as the color blue, and see your raised nose and hear your sweet talk, you will become more beautiful to me and thus attract me and oblige me. You are my most respected mistress.
An effeminate husband, simply being attracted by the external beauty of his wife, tries to become her most obedient servant. Śrīpāda Śaṅkarācārya has therefore advised that we not become attracted by a lump of flesh and blood. The story is told that at one time a man, very much attracted to a beautiful woman, wooed the woman in such a way that she devised a plan to show him the ingredients of her beauty. The woman made a date to see him, and before seeing him she took a purgative, and that whole day and night she simply passed stool, and she preserved that stool in a pot. The next night, when the man came to see her, she appeared very ugly and emaciated. When the man inquired from her about the woman with whom he had an engagement, she replied, “I am that very woman.” The man refused to believe her, not knowing that she had lost all her beauty due to the violent purgative that caused her to pass stool day and night. When the man began to argue with her, the woman said that she was not looking beautiful because she was separated from the ingredients of her beauty. When the man asked how she could be so separated, the woman said, “Come on, and I will show you.” She then showed him the pot filled with liquid stool and vomit. Thus the man became aware that a beautiful woman is simply a lump of matter composed of blood, stool, urine and similar other disgusting ingredients. This is the actual fact, but in a state of illusion, man becomes attracted by illusory beauty and becomes a victim of māyā.
King Purañjana begged his Queen to return to her original beauty. He tried to revive her just as a living entity tries to revive his original consciousness, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, which is very beautiful. All the beautiful features of the Queen could be compared to the beautiful features of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. When one returns to his original Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he actually becomes steady, and his life becomes successful.