Devanagari
इति तां वीर मारीच: कृपणां बहुभाषिणीम् ।
प्रत्याहानुनयन् वाचा प्रवृद्धानङ्गकश्मलाम् ॥ १६ ॥
Verse text
iti tāṁ vīra mārīcaḥ
kṛpaṇāṁ bahu-bhāṣiṇīm
pratyāhānunayan vācā
pravṛddhānaṅga-kaśmalām
Synonyms
iti
—
thus
;
tām
—
unto her
;
vīra
—
O hero
;
mārīcaḥ
—
the son of Marīci (Kaśyapa)
;
kṛpaṇām
—
unto the poor
;
bahu
—
bhāṣiṇīm — too talkative
;
pratyāha
—
replied
;
anunayan
—
pacifying
;
vācā
—
by words
;
pravṛddha
—
highly agitated
;
anaṅga
—
lust
;
kaśmalām
—
contaminated .
Translation
O hero [Vidura], Diti, being thus afflicted by the contamination of lust, and therefore poor and talkative, was pacified by the son of Marīci in suitable words.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O bold Vidura! Kaśypa, speaking with conciliatory words, replied to his suffering wife who had spoken excessively, and whose lust continued to increase.
Addressing Vidura as vira indicates that Vidura was strong in dharma whereas Kaśyapa was not. Pacifying her, he spoke. He did not glance at her in anger and scold her. If he were to show artificial anger, her affliction of lust would have disappeared in fear. Being disturbed by lust she could not tolerate any conciliatory words. Her lust simply increased.
Purport
When a man or woman is afflicted by the lust of sex desire, it is to be understood as sinful contamination. Kaśyapa was engaged in his spiritual activities, but he did not have sufficient strength to refuse his wife, who was thus afflicted. He could have refused her with strong words expressing impossibility, but he was not as spiritually strong as Vidura. Vidura is addressed here as a hero because no one is stronger in self-control than a devotee of the Lord. It appears that Kaśyapa was already inclined to have sexual enjoyment with his wife, and because he was not a strong man he tried to dissuade her only with pacifying words.