—json {

  "name":"SB 3.20.38",
  "h1":"SB 3.20.38",
  "label":"Text 38",
  "title":"Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.20.38",
  "description":"With a laugh full of deep significance, the worshipful Brahmā then evolved by his own loveliness, which seemed to enjoy itself by itself, the hosts of Gandharvas and Apsarās."

} —

SB 3.20.38

प्रहस्य भावगम्भीरं जिघ्रन्त्यात्मानमात्मना ।
कान्त्या ससर्ज भगवान्गन्धर्वाप्सरसां गणान् ॥३८॥

Text

prahasya bhāva-gambhīraṁ
jighrantyātmānam ātmanā
kāntyā sasarja bhagavān
gandharvāpsarasāṁ gaṇān

Synonyms

prahasya—smiling; bhāva-gambhīram—with a deep purpose; jighrantyā—understanding; ātmānam—himself; ātmanā—by himself; kāntyā—by his loveliness; sasarja—created; bhagavān—the worshipful Lord Brahmā; gandharva—the celestial musicians; apsarasām—and of the heavenly dancing girls; gaṇān—the hosts of.

Translation

With a laugh full of deep significance, the worshipful Brahmā then evolved by his own loveliness, which seemed to enjoy itself by itself, the hosts of Gandharvas and Apsarās.

Purport

The musicians in the upper planetary systems are called Gandharvas, and the dancing girls are called Apsarās. After being attacked by the demons and evolving a form of a beautiful woman in the twilight, Brahmā next created Gandharvas and Apsarās. Music and dancing employed in sense gratification are to be accepted as demoniac, but the same music and dancing, when employed in glorifying the Supreme Lord as kīrtana, are transcendental, and they bring about a life completely fit for spiritual enjoyment.