Srimad Bhagavatam — Ekadasha Skandha, Shloka 7
Avadhūta’s Teachers: Python, Ocean, Moth, Bee, Elephant, Deer, Fish—and Piṅgalā’s Song of Detachment
दृष्ट्वा स्त्रियं देवमायां तद्भावैरजितेन्द्रिय: । प्रलोभित: पतत्यन्धे तमस्यग्नौ पतङ्गवत् ॥ ७ ॥
dṛṣṭvā striyaṁ deva-māyāṁ tad-bhāvair ajitendriyaḥ pralobhitaḥ pataty andhe tamasy agnau pataṅga-vat
Celui qui n’a pas maîtrisé ses sens est aussitôt attiré en voyant la forme d’une femme, œuvre de l’énergie illusoire du Seigneur Suprême. Lorsqu’elle parle avec des mots séduisants, sourit avec coquetterie et bouge avec sensualité, son esprit est capturé, et il tombe aveuglément dans l’obscurité de l’existence matérielle, tel le papillon de nuit qui se jette dans la flamme.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī explains in this regard that just as a moth is killed by its attraction to the form of fire, similarly a bee can easily be killed by exploiting its attraction to the fragrance of flowers. Furthermore, hunters may trap and kill an elephant by exploiting its sensuous desire to touch a captive female elephant and may also kill a deer by attracting it with the sounds of their horns; and a fish is killed by its desire to taste the bait on a hook. Thus, one who desires to learn detachment from material illusion should accept these five helpless creatures as guru and learn the needful. Certainly one who is lusty to enjoy the illusory form of woman will be quickly buried in material illusion. Of the five types of fatal attraction involving material sense objects, the lesson of rūpa, or form, is illustrated in this verse.
FAQs
This verse warns that when the senses are unconquered, attraction to woman as divine Māyā can overpower the mind, causing one to fall into ignorance and suffering—like a moth destroyed by fire.
He is emphasizing that material attraction is powered by the Lord’s Māyā: it is not merely personal weakness but a cosmic deluding energy that tests the conditioned soul, especially when sense control is absent.
Practice respectful boundaries, guard the senses (especially sight and imagination), and redirect attraction into devotion—through sādhana, good association, and remembering the soul’s goal—so fascination does not turn into self-destructive obsession.