SB 3.31.42

SB 3.31.42

Devanagari

तामात्मनो विजानीयात्पत्यपत्यगृहात्मकम् । दैवोपसादितं मृत्युं मृगयोर्गायनं यथा ॥ ४२ ॥

Verse text

tām ātmano vijānīyāt paty-apatya-gṛhātmakam daivopasāditaṁ mṛtyuṁ mṛgayor gāyanaṁ yathā

Synonyms

tām the Lord’s māyā ; ātmanaḥ of herself ; vijānīyāt she should know ; pati husband ; apatya children ; gṛha house ; ātmakam consisting of ; daiva by the authority of the Lord ; upasāditam brought about ; mṛtyum death ; mṛgayoḥ of the hunter ; gāyanam the singing ; yathā as .

Translation

A woman, therefore, should consider her husband, her house and her children to be the arrangement of the external energy of the Lord for her death, just as the sweet singing of the hunter is death for the deer.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

She should understand that māyā in the form of husband, children and house, supplied by fate is her own death, just the deer should understand that the song of the hunter is death. She should understand that māyā in the form of husband and sons to be death, just as the deer should understand that the song of the greedy hunter, though pleasurable, is death.

Purport

In these instructions of Lord Kapiladeva it is explained that not only is woman the gateway to hell for man, but man is also the gateway to hell for woman. It is a question of attachment. A man becomes attached to a woman because of her service, her beauty and many other assets, and similarly a woman becomes attached to a man for his giving her a nice place to live, ornaments, dress and children. It is a question of attachment for one another. As long as either is attached to the other for such material enjoyment, the woman is dangerous for the man, and the man is also dangerous for the woman. But if the attachment is transferred to Kṛṣṇa, both of them become Kṛṣṇa conscious, and then marriage is very nice. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī therefore recommends: anāsaktasya viṣayān yathārham upayuṣjataḥ nirbandhaḥ kṛṣṇa-sambandhe yuktaṁ vairāgyam ucyate ( Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.255) Man and woman should live together as householders in relationship with Kṛṣṇa, only for the purpose of discharging duties in the service of Kṛṣṇa. Engage the children, engage the wife, and engage the husband, all in Kṛṣṇa conscious duties, and then all these bodily or material attachments will disappear. Since the medium is Kṛṣṇa, the consciousness is pure and there is no possibility of degradation at any time.