Text 5]
Appearance of Śrī Nārada
195
this alertness is very lucidly explained. The liberated soul and the conditioned soul have different engagements. The liberated soul is always engaged in the progressive path of spiritual attainment, which is something like a dream for the conditioned soul. The conditioned soul cannot imagine the actual engagements of the liberated soul. While the conditioned soul thus dreams about spiritual engagements, the liberated soul is awake. Similarly, the engagement of a conditioned soul appears to be a dream for the liberated soul. Apparently a conditioned soul and a liberated soul may seem to be on the same platform, but factually they are differently engaged, and their attention is always alert, either in sense enjoyment or in self-realization. The conditioned soul is absorbed in matter, whereas the liberated soul is completely indifferent to matter. This indifference is explained as follows.
TEXT 5
दृष्ट्वानुयान्तमृषिमात्मजमप्यनग्रं 
  देव्यो हिया परिदधुर्न मुतस्य चित्रम् । 
  तद्वीक्ष्य पृच्छति मुनौ जगदुस्तवास्ति 
  स्त्रीपुम्भिदा न तु मुतस्य विविक्तदृष्टेः॥ ५ ॥
dṛṣṭvānuyāntam ṛṣim ātmajam apy anagnaṁ 
  devyo hriyā paridadhur na sutasya citram 
  tad vīkṣya pṛcchati munau jagadus tavāsti 
  strī-pum-bhidā na tu sutasya vivikta-dṛṣṭeḥ
dṛṣṭvā—by seeing; anuyāntam—following; ṛṣim—the sage; ātmajam—his son; api—in spite of; anagnam—not naked; devyaḥ—beautiful damsels; hriyā—out of shyness; paridadhuḥ—covered the body; na—not; sutasya—of the son; citram—astonishing; tat vīkṣya—by seeing that; pṛcchati—asking; munau—unto the muni (Vyāsa); jagaduḥ—replied; tava—your; asti—there are; strī-pum—male and female; bhidā—differences; na—not; tu—but; sutasya—of the son; vivikta—purified; dṛṣṭeḥ—of one who looks.
TRANSLATION
While Śrī Vyāsadeva was following his son, beautiful young damsels, who were bathing naked, covered their bodies with cloth, although Śrī Vyāsadeva himself was not naked. But they did not do so when his son passed. The sage inquired about this, and the young ladies replied that his