600 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 1, Ch. 11

combined with a female, the material bondage of the living being is at
once tightly interlocked by sex relation, and as a result of this, both the
male and female’s attraction for sweet home, motherland, bodily offspring,
society and friendship and accumulation of wealth become the illusory
field of activities, and thus a false but indefatigable attraction for the
temporary material existence, which is full of miseries, is manifest. Those
who are, therefore, on the path of salvation for going back home and back
to Godhead are especially advised by all scriptural instruction to become
free from such paraphernalia of material attraction. And that is possible
only by the association of the devotees of the Lord who are called the
mahatmas. Cupid, therefore, throws his arrow upon the living beings to
make them mad after the opposite sex, whether the party is actually
beautiful or not. Cupid’s provocations are going on, even among beastly
societies who are all ugly-looking in the estimation of the civilized nations.
Thus Cupid’s influence is exerted even amongst the ugliest forms, and what
to speak of the most perfect beauties. Lord Siva, who is considered to be
most tolerant, was also struck by Cupid’s arrow because he also became
mad after the Mohini incarnation of the Lord and acknowledged himself
to be defeated. Cupid, however, was himself captivated by the grave and
exciting dealings of the goddesses of fortune, and he voluntarily gave up his
bow and arrow ina spirit of frustration. Such was the beauty and attraction
of the queens of Lord Krsna. Yet they could not disturb the transcendental
senses of the Lord. This is because the Lord is all-perfect atmarama, or self-
sufficient. He does not require anyone’s extraneous help for His personal
satisfaction. Therefore, the queens could not satisfy the Lord by their
feminine attractiveness, but they satisfied Him by their sincere affection
and service. Only by unalloyed transcendental loving service could they
satisfy the Lord, and the Lord was pleased to treat them as wives in
reciprocation. Thus being satisfied by their unalloyed service only, the
Lord reciprocated the service just like a devout husband. Otherwise He
had no business to become the husband of so many wives. He is the
husband of everyone, but to one who accepts Him as such, He reciprocates.
This unalloyed affection for the Lord is never to be compared to mundane
lust. It is purely transcendental. And the grave dealings, which the queens
displayed in natural feminine ways, were also transcendental because the
feelings were expressed out of transcendental ecstasy. It is already explained
in the previous verse that the Lord appeared like a mundane husband, but
factually His relation with His wives was transcendental, pure and uncon-
ditioned by the modes of material nature.
