Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.12.35

skanne retasi so 'paśyad

ātmānaḿ deva-māyayā

jaḍīkṛtaḿ nṛpa-śreṣṭha

sannyavartata kaśmalāt

SYNONYMS

skanne — when fully discharged; retasi — the semen; saḥ — Lord Śiva; apaśyat — saw; ātmānam — his own self; deva-māyayā — by the māyā of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; jaḍīkṛtam — had become victimized as a fool; nṛpa-śreṣṭha — O best of kings (Mahārāja Parīkṣit); sannyavartata — restrained himself further; kaśmalāt — from illusion.

TRANSLATION

O Mahārāja Parīkṣit, best of kings, when Lord Śiva had fully discharged semen, he could see how he himself had been victimized by the illusion created by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Thus he restrained himself from any further māyā.

PURPORT

Once one is agitated by lusty desires upon seeing a woman, those desires increase more and more, but when semen is discharged in the act of sex, the lusty desires diminish. The same principle acted upon Lord Śiva. He was allured by the beautiful woman Mohinī-mūrti, but when his semen had been fully discharged, he came to his senses and realized how he had been victimized as soon as he saw the woman in the forest. If one is trained to protect his semen by observing celibacy, naturally he is not attracted by the beauty of a woman. If one can remain a brahmacārī, he saves himself so much trouble in material existence. Material existence means enjoying the pleasure of sexual intercourse (yan maithunādi-gṛhamedhi-sukham [SB 7.9.45]). If one is educated about sex life and is trained to protect his semen, he is saved from the danger of material existence.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness