Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Srimad Bhagavatam 10.6.9

tam tiksna-cittam ativama-cestitam

viksyantara kosa-paricchadasivat

vara-striyam tat-prabhaya ca dharsite

niriksyamane janani hy atisthatam

SYNONYMS

tam -- that (Putana Raksasi); tiksna-cittam -- having a very fierce heart for killing the child; ati-vama-cestitam -- although she was trying to treat the child better than a mother; viksya antara -- seeing her within the room; kosa-paricchada-asi-vat -- like a sharp sword within a soft sheath; vara-striyam -- the very beautiful woman; tat-prabhaya -- by her influence; ca -- also; dharsite -- being overwhelmed; niriksyamane -- were seeing; janani -- the two mothers; hi -- indeed; atisthatam -- they remained silent, without prohibiting.

TRANSLATION

Putana Raksasi's heart was fierce and cruel, but she looked like a very affectionate mother. Thus she resembled a sharp sword in a soft sheath. Although seeing her within the room, Yasoda and Rohini, overwhelmed by her beauty, did not stop her, but remained silent because she treated the child like a mother.

PURPORT

Although Putana was an outsider and although she personified fierce death because the determination within her heart was to kill the child, when she directly came and placed the child on her lap to offer the child her breast to suck, the mothers were so captivated by her beauty that they did not prohibit her. Sometimes a beautiful woman is dangerous because everyone, being captivated by external beauty (maya-mohita), is unable to understand what is in her mind. Those who are captivated by the beauty of the external energy are called maya-mohita. Mohitam nabhijanati mam ebhyah param avyayam (Bg. 7.13). Na te viduh svartha-gatim hi visnum durasaya ye bahir-artha-maninah (Bhag. 7.5.31). Here, of course, the two mothers Rohini and Yasoda were not maya-mohita, deluded by the external energy, but to develop the pastimes of the Lord, they were captivated by yogamaya. Such maya-moha is the action of yogamaya.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
His Holiness Hrdayananda dasa Goswami
Gopiparanadhana dasa Adhikari
Dravida dasa Brahmacari