dṛṣá¹vÄnuyÄntam ṛṣim Ätmajam apy anagnaá¹
devyo hriyÄ paridadhur na sutasya citram
tad vÄ«ká¹£ya pá¹›cchati munau jagadus tavÄsti
strÄ«-pum-bhidÄ na tu sutasya vivikta-dṛṣá¹eḥ
dṛṣá¹vÄ - by seeing; anuyÄntam - following; ṛṣim - the sage; Ätmajam - his son; api - in spite of; anagnam - not naked; devyaḥ - beautiful damsels; hriyÄ - out of shyness; paridadhuḥ - covered the body; na - not; sutasya - of the son; citram - astonishing; tat vÄ«ká¹£ya - by seeing that; pá¹›cchati - asking; munau - unto the muni (VyÄsa); jagaduḥ - replied; tava - your; asti - there are; strÄ«-pum - male and female; bhidÄ - differences; na - not; tu - but; sutasya - of the son; vivikta - purified; dṛṣá¹eḥ - of one who looks.
While ÅšrÄ« VyÄsadeva was following his son, beautiful young damsels who were bathing naked covered their bodies with cloth, although ÅšrÄ« VyÄsadeva himself was not naked. But they had not done so when his son had passed. The sage inquired about this, and the young ladies replied that his son was purified and when looking at them made no distinction between male and female. But the sage made such distinctions.
In the Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (5.18) it is said that a learned sage looks equally on a learned and gentle brÄhmaṇa, a caṇá¸Äla (dog-eater), a dog or a cow due to his spiritual vision. ÅšrÄ«la Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« attained that stage. Thus he did not see a male or female; he saw all living entities in different dress. The ladies who were bathing could understand the mind of a man simply by studying his demeanor, just as by looking at a child one can understand how innocent he is. Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« was a young boy sixteen years old, and therefore all the parts of his body were developed. He was naked also, and so were the ladies. But because Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« was transcendental to sex relations, he appeared very innocent. The ladies, by their special qualifications, could sense this at once, and therefore they were not very concerned about him. But when his father passed, the ladies quickly dressed. The ladies were exactly like his children or grandchildren, yet they reacted to the presence of VyÄsadeva according to the social custom because ÅšrÄ«la VyÄsadeva played the part of a householder. A householder has to distinguish between a male and female; otherwise he cannot be a householder. One should therefore attempt to know the distinction between body and soul without any attachment for male and female. As long as such distinction is there, one should not try to become a sannyÄsÄ« like Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ«. At least theoretically one must be convinced that a living entity is neither male nor female. The outward dress is made of matter by material nature to attract the opposite sex and thus keep one entangled in material existence. A liberated soul is above this perverted distinction. He does not distinguish between one living being and another. For him they are all one and the same spirit. The perfection of this spiritual vision is the liberated stage, and ÅšrÄ«la Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« attained that stage. ÅšrÄ«la VyÄsadeva was also in the transcendental stage, but because he was in the householder’s life, he did not pretend to be a liberated soul, as a matter of custom.
