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| https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_ continue=54&v=NMrRzDJ3Wuc |
Uddhava Gita 2.28 "Now please hear from me the song sung by [Pingala] the prostitute ..."
Pingala is a prostitute. This might rise the query from the reader how
one can gain by hearing a poetry describing the greed and miserable life of a
prostitute, but
Pingala's story is told by Lord
Krishna to Uddhava and sastra so instruct about this type of narration : Itihasa-samucchaya
[SD 3.5.12 Comm.] "What result can be attained by
describing the lust of lusty men and the greed of greedy men, except to sent
them into the darkness of a well? In the Mahabharata, lust and greed are
described to purify people's hearts, and are moreover condemned by stories with
pure meaning. Otherwise, why would the
most merciful and learned Vyasa describe lust and greed, the cause of bondage
to terrible material existence?"
Pingala's
is just one of the sixteen stories that an avadhuta
brahmana told to King Yadu. Every story is a lesson about material life and
Krishna retells the whole narration to Uddhava ~ in the section of the
Bhagavatam (11th Canto) called "Uddhava Gita" ~ during His final
instructions before closing up His pastimes on Earth. Therefore so auspicious and beneficial is
hearing and learning from this story.
