यां हर्म्यपृष्ठे क्वणदङ्घ्रिशोभां
विक्रीडतीं कन्दुकविह्वलाक्षीम् ।
विश्वावसुर्न्यपतत्स्वाद्विमाना
द्विलोक्य सम्मोहविमूढचेताः ॥१७॥

yÄá¹ harmya-pṛṣṭhe kvaṇad-aá¹…ghri-Å›obhÄá¹
vikrÄ«á¸atīṠkanduka-vihvalÄkṣīm
viÅ›vÄvasur nyapatat svÄd vimÄnÄd
vilokya sammoha-vimÅ«á¸ha-cetÄḥ

 yÄm - whom; harmya-pṛṣṭhe - on the roof of the palace; kvaṇat-aá¹…ghri-Å›obhÄm - whose beauty was heightened by the tinkling ornaments on her feet; vikrÄ«á¸atÄ«m - playing; kanduka-vihvala-akṣīm - with eyes bewildered, following her ball; viÅ›vÄvasuḥ - ViÅ›vÄvasu; nyapatat - fell down; svÄt - from his own; vimÄnÄt - from the airplane; vilokya - seeing; sammoha-vimÅ«á¸ha-cetÄḥ - whose mind was stupefied.


Text

I have heard that ViÅ›vÄvasu, the great Gandharva, his mind stupefied with infatuation, fell from his airplane after seeing your daughter playing with a ball on the roof of the palace, for she was indeed beautiful with her tinkling ankle bells and her eyes moving to and fro.

Purport

It is understood that not only at the present moment but in those days also there were skyscrapers. Herein we find the word harmya-pṛṣṭhe. Harmya means “a very big palatial building.†SvÄd vimÄnÄt means “from his own airplane.†It is suggested that private airplanes or helicopters were also current in those days. The Gandharva ViÅ›vÄvasu, while flying in the sky, could see DevahÅ«ti playing ball on the roof of the palace. Ball playing was also current, but aristocratic girls would not play in a public place. Ball playing and other such pleasures were not meant for ordinary women and girls; only princesses like DevahÅ«ti could indulge in such sports. It is described here that she was seen from the flying airplane. This indicates that the palace was very high, otherwise how could one see her from an airplane? The vision was so distinct that the Gandharva ViÅ›vÄvasu was bewildered by her beauty and by hearing the sound of her ankle bangles, and being captivated by the sound and beauty, he fell down. Kardama Muni mentioned the incident as he had heard it.