10.41 – Worldly beauty agitates, dissatisfies, pollutes; Krishna’s beauty pacifies, cleanes
Beauty ranks among the world’s most fascinating – and frustrating – features. History is filled with stories of ill-fated captivation by beauty.
Can we not relish the fascination without the frustration?
Yes, we can, declares Gita wisdom, if we redirect our thirst for beauty from worldly objects to Krishna. The Bhagavad-gita (10.41) indicates that everything attractive – including worldly beauty – is a spark of Krishna’s supreme all-attractiveness.
Attraction to the spark and attraction to the whole beget radically different results:
- Worldly beauty agitates, Krishna’s beauty pacifies: Worldly beauty is limited and temporary; only some people in the world are beautiful and even they are beautiful for just some part of their life. That’s why those attracted to worldly beauty sentence themselves to competition, agitation, tribulation. Krishna’s beauty, however, is eternal and eternally available for each one of us. When we become attracted to it, we become secure and peaceful, knowing that we have found an inalienable source of nectar.
- Worldly beauty dissatisfies, Krishna’s beauty satisfies: Even when worldly beauty is in its full bloom, still it expresses at best only a spark of Krishna’s beauty. Just as a spark doesn’t illuminate adequately, worldly beauty leaves us dissatisfied. Just as the sun provides abundant illumination, Krishna’s beauty provides us supreme satisfaction.
- Worldly beauty pollutes, Krishna’s beauty cleanses: When we are attracted to worldly beauty, our unsatisfied thirst goads us into immoral and perverse imaginations and actions – all of which pollute our consciousness. When we become attracted to Krishna’s beauty, though we feel satisfied, we also long to relish more of his beauty. This longing gradually drives out all other longings from our heart, thereby cleansing us and elevating us to the spiritual level, where we can feast on his beauty eternally.