Srimad Bhagavatam – day 476
“Lust and other desires emerge due to sankalpa. Lustful persons respect that form of mine which intensifies feelings of lust in them. Since you desire to see that form I shall show it to you”. Saying this Srihari vanished from there.
Śiva and Parvati searched for Srihari everywhere but couldn’t locate Him. Then, unexpectedly, in the nearby gardens which were full of colourful trees filled with reddish flowers, Śiva spotted an enchanting woman wearing a delicate sari that was held in place with a glittering waist-band.
The lady was immersed in playing with a ball. While playing, she was running playfully, while sensuously casting her glance everywhere. Her beautiful, wide eyes which moved here and there playfully, captivated the heart. Her glowing earrings caused her cheeks to illumine resplendently. Her hair added to the beauty of her face.
As she played, she was continuously adjusting her sari which was slipping off from her body as well as pushing back her hair which was falling on her eyes. All along she never let go of playing with the ball. Her pleasurable actions were seductive and sensuous.
Watching this charming lady who was stealing his heart, Śiva forgot his beautiful wife Parvati, who was beside him and the troops that had accompanied him. Added to this, the lady smiled bashfully and cast a seductive smile at him. That’s all! Śiva was totally obsessed with her charms. As he looked at her, she too matched his gaze. With this his heart underwent a great turmoil.
Meanwhile, the lady ran to catch the ball that had slipped from her hand. Without blinking his eyelid Śiva was gazing steadily at her. As she ran forward, the breeze cause her sari, that was delicately covering her body, to suddenly slip.
Śiva now remained motionless just gazing at this woman who, through her charming seductive looks, had enchanted his mind completely. She cast a provocative look at Śiva. A great Lord like Śiva was now filled with a desire to possess her”.
As the form of Mohini was created totally out of Vishnu’s illusionary energy, she had the power to captivate anyone including the Lords. Understand that, in reality, this was a transcendental sport enacted by the two Lords.
“Śiva, who had lost his mental balance, could not conceal his love for her anymore. Even as Parvati was watching he ran towards her. This woman, whose clothes had slightly slipped, smiled extremely bashfully as Śiva neared her and hid herself amidst trees. She kept wandering amidst the trees. Śiva appeared as if he had succumbed to Manmatha’s (God of love) power”.
Remember this was a transcendental play enacted by the Gods. Otherwise how can Śiva get captivated by such beauty?
Just as a lusty male-elephant follows a female-elephant, Śiva began to chase her, who was running through the forests. At last, he held her hair and dragged her towards himself. He lovingly embraced her with his arms. As she tried to squirm away, her hair became totally scattered.
This divine damsel, who was an illusory creation of the Supreme Lord, now wriggled free from his grip and again began to run speedily through the forests. Śiva quickly began to run in the direction in which Mohini, the female form of Vishnu, had gone.
The Supreme Lord’s sports always cause astonishment, isn’t it? At this moment it appeared as if the Lord had succumbed to lustful desires. As Śiva was thus madly chasing Mohini, his semen dropped down. Gold and silver mines were formed in all those places where droplets of semen fell”.
From this, the purpose of this entire drama is clear! It was enacted by the two great Gods to fill earth with gold and silver mines! A few other stories are also associated with this transcendental sport of the two Gods.
“In this way, Rudra blessed all those places where great sages reside and the locations of great mountains, forests, gardens, rivers and lakes, with his presence. In order to bless the entire earth with His energy, Lord Srihari and Śiva enacted this drama, due to which all mines containing precious metals were formed.
The moment his semen was scattered, Śiva realized he had succumbed to Vishnu’s illusionary energy. Instantly he firmed up his mind and discarded this infatuation. He could now understand the transcendental activity of the Supreme Lord. It is impossible for any living entity to understand the Lord’s illusionary power. He thus understood that his succumbing to the Lord’s illusion was not at all astonishing.
Srihari, whose glories are infinite, now discarded his illusionary female form and manifested in his male form. He was pleased to see Yogi Śiva, who was neither agitated nor unashamed. Addressing Śiva, He said,
“O Śiva, you are the most supreme among all Devatas. When I, with the help of my illusionary power, assumed the form of a woman, you pretended to succumb to my illusion. In reality, due to your transcendental knowledge, you remain established in your original form. You remained changeless Although you enacted as if your mind was agitated, in reality you remained established in the original state. This is absolutely praise-worthy.
My illusionary energy, sports playfully creating many newer feelings and agitations. Those who lack mind-control can never cross this illusion of mine. Is there any specific need to mention that those who are completely immersed into enjoying sensory pleasures can never ever cross it? Undoubtedly you have crossed this illusion, O Lord.
In accordance with time, which is responsible for creation, sustenance and annihilation, I who am the personification of time accept the three attributes of Nature (trigunas), which are the sub-aspects of illusion, as a body. However this illusion of mine can never infatuate you”- having said this, the Supreme Lord Srihari honoured Lord Śiva.
Together with his troops, Śiva circumambulated the Supreme Lord and seeking his permission returned to Mount Kailasa.
Thereafter even as all eminent Maharishis were worshipping him, in response to the question put forth by Parvati, Lord Śiva happily described Srihari’s illusionary power as follows:
“O Parvati! Did you observe the illusionary power of Srihari, who inherently is birthless and who has illumination as His form? Among His partial incarnations I am the most supreme. Even then His illusion could cast an influence upon me. What more needs to be said about an ordinary human being who is a slave to his senses?
Yaṁ mām apṛcchas tvam upetya yogāt samā-sahasrānta upārataṁ vai
Sa eṣa sākṣāt puruṣaḥ purāṇo na yatra kālo viśate na vedaḥ
Previously, when I had come out of meditation which I had been performing for a thousand years, you approached me and enquired, “who is it that you meditate upon?” I will now explain it to you.
Narayana narayana