Text 17
kim etayā no ’pakṛtaṁ
rajjvā vā sarpa-cetasaḥ
draṣṭuḥ svarūpāviduṣo
yo ’haṁ yad ajitendriyaḥ
kim — what; etayā — by her; naḥ — to us; apakṛtam — offense has been done; rajjvā — by a rope; vā — or; sarpa-cetasaḥ — who is thinking it to be a snake; draṣṭuḥ — of such a seer; svarūpa — the real identity; aviduṣaḥ — who does not understand; yaḥ — who; aham — I; yat — because of; ajita-indriyaḥ — having not controlled the senses.
How can I blame her for my trouble when I myself am ignorant of my real, spiritual nature? I did not control my senses, and so I am like a person who mistakenly sees a harmless rope as a snake.
When a person mistakes a rope for a snake, he becomes fearful and anxious. Such fear and anxiety are, of course, illusion, since the rope can never bite. Similarly, one who mistakenly thinks that the material, illusory energy of the Lord exists for his personal sense gratification will certainly bring down on his head an avalanche of material, illusory fear and anxiety. King Purūravā frankly admits here that the young lady Urvaśī is not to blame. After all, it was Purūravā who mistakenly considered her to be an object of his personal enjoyment, and therefore he suffered the reaction by the laws of nature. Purūravā himself was the offender for trying to exploit the external form of Urvaśī.