Devanagari
अहं त्वाशृणवं विद्वन् विवाहार्थं समुद्यतम् ।
अतस्त्वमुपकुर्वाण: प्रत्तां प्रतिगृहाण मे ॥ १४ ॥
Verse text
ahaṁ tvāśṛṇavaṁ vidvan
vivāhārthaṁ samudyatam
atas tvam upakurvāṇaḥ
prattāṁ pratigṛhāṇa me
Synonyms
aham
—
I
;
tvā
—
you
;
aśṛṇavam
—
heard
;
vidvan
—
O wise man
;
vivāha
—
artham — for the sake of marriage
;
samudyatam
—
prepared
;
ataḥ
—
hence
;
tvam
—
you
;
upakurvāṇaḥ
—
not taken a vow of perpetual celibacy
;
prattām
—
offered
;
pratigṛhāṇa
—
please accept
;
me
—
of me .
Translation
Svāyambhuva Manu continued: O wise man, I heard that you were prepared to marry. Please accept her hand, which is being offered to you by me, since you have not taken a vow of perpetual celibacy.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O learned one! I have heard that you are prepared to get married. Being celibate up till this point, please accept the daughter I offer.
“How did you know the desire in my mind?” Do not ask about knowing. I have even heard this. I have heard this from the mouth of the Supreme Lord who appeared before me. Upakurvāṇaḥ is a person who has been celibate up till this point, but can get married. Prattām me means “given by me.”
Purport
The principle of
brahmacarya
is celibacy. There are two kinds of
brahmacārīs.
One is called
naiṣṭhika-brahmacārī,
which means one who takes a vow of celibacy for his whole life, whereas the other, the
upakurvāṇa-brahmacārī,
is a
brahmacārī
who takes the vow of celibacy up to a certain age. For example, he may take the vow to remain celibate up to twenty-five years of age; then, with the permission of his spiritual master, he enters married life.
Brahmacarya
is student life, the beginning of life in the spiritual orders, and the principle of
brahmacarya
is celibacy. Only a householder can indulge in sense gratification or sex life, not a
brahmacārī.
Svāyambhuva Manu requested Kardama Muni to accept his daughter, since Kardama had not taken the vow of
naiṣṭhika-brahmacarya.
He was willing to marry, and the suitable daughter of a high royal family was presented.