The prostitute Pingala

Expressions researched:
"Pingala was a prostitute" |"Pingala, the great prostitute" |"a prostitute named Pingala" |"the prostitute Pingala"

Notes from the compiler: Quote from KB 47 not yet compiled

SB Cantos 10.14 to 12 (Translations Only)

SB 10.47.47, Translation:

Indeed, the greatest happiness is to renounce all desires, as even the prostitute Piṅgalā has declared. Yet even though we know this, we cannot give up our hopes of attaining Kṛṣṇa.

SB 11.7.33-35, Translation:

O King, I have taken shelter of twenty-four gurus, who are the following: the earth, air, sky, water, fire, moon, sun, pigeon and python; the sea, moth, honeybee, elephant and honey thief; the deer, the fish, the prostitute Piṅgalā, the kurara bird and the child; and the young girl, arrow maker, serpent, spider and wasp. My dear King, by studying their activities I have learned the science of the self.

SB 11.8.22, Translation:

O son of kings, previously in the city of Videha there dwelled a prostitute named Piṅgalā. Now please hear what I have learned from that lady.

SB 11.8.25-26, Translation:

As the prostitute Piṅgalā stood in the doorway, many men came and went, walking by her house. Her only means of sustenance was prostitution, and therefore she anxiously thought, "Maybe this one who is coming now is very rich...Oh, he is not stopping, but I am sure someone else will come. Surely this man who is coming now will want to pay me for my love, and he will probably give lots of money." Thus, with vain hope, she remained leaning against the doorway, unable to finish her business and go to sleep. Out of anxiety she would sometimes walk out toward the street, and sometimes she went back into her house. In this way, the midnight hour gradually arrived.

SB 11.8.30, Translation:

The prostitute Piṅgalā said: Just see how greatly illusioned I am ! Because I cannot control my mind, just like a fool I desire lusty pleasure from an insignificant man.

CC Antya-lila

CC Antya 17.54, Translation and Purport:

Suddenly, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu became calm and considered His state of mind. He remembered the words of Piṅgalā, and this aroused an ecstasy that moved Him to speak. Thus He explained the meaning of the verse.

Piṅgalā was a prostitute who said, "To hope against hope produces only misery. Utter hopelessness is the greatest happiness." Remembering this statement, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu became ecstatic. The story of Piṅgalā is found in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Eleventh Canto, Eighth Chapter, verses 22–44, as well as in the Mahābhārata, Śānti-parva, Chapter 174.