SB 4.25.42 · Srimad Bhagavatam

Devanagari

कस्या मनस्ते भुवि भोगिभोगयो: स्त्रिया न सज्जेद्भुजयोर्महाभुज । योऽनाथवर्गाधिमलं घृणोद्धत स्मितावलोकेन चरत्यपोहितुम् ॥ ४२ ॥

Verse text

kasyā manas te bhuvi bhogi-bhogayoḥ striyā na sajjed bhujayor mahā-bhuja yo ’nātha-vargādhim alaṁ ghṛṇoddhata- smitāvalokena caraty apohitum

Synonyms

kasyāḥ — whose ; manaḥ — mind ; te — your ; bhuvi — in this world ; bhogi — bhogayoḥ — like the body of a serpent ; striyāḥ — of a woman ; na — not ; sajjet — becomes attracted ; bhujayoḥ — by the arms ; mahā — bhuja — O mighty-armed ; yaḥ — one who ; anātha — vargā — of poor women like me ; adhim — distresses of the mind ; alam — able ; ghṛṇā — uddhata — by aggressive mercy ; smita — avalokena — by attractive smiling ; carati — travels ; apohitum — to dissipate .

Translation

O mighty-armed, who in this world will not be attracted by your arms, which are just like the bodies of serpents? Actually you relieve the distress of husbandless women like us by your attractive smile and your aggressive mercy. We think that you are traveling on the surface of the earth just to benefit us only.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Mighty-armed! What woman’s mind would not be attracted to your snake-like arms? You travel through the world to relieve the distress of unsheltered women by your smiling glance. O man with extraordinary mercy! What woman’s mind would not take notice of your arms, and what woman would not be totally attracted to your arms? You wander about to remove the inner suffering of women like me who are without shelter, by your smiling glance. O man of extraordinary mercy! With the jīva’s consciousness, the intelligence and other factors have a protector.

Purport

When a husbandless woman is attacked by an aggressive man, she takes his action to be mercy. A woman is generally very much attracted by a man’s long arms. A serpent’s body is round, and it becomes narrower and thinner at the end. The beautiful arms of a man appear to a woman just like serpents, and she very much desires to be embraced by such arms. The word anātha-vargā is very significant in this verse. Nātha means “husband,” and a means “without.” A young woman who has no husband is called anātha, meaning “one who is not protected.” As soon as a woman attains the age of puberty, she immediately becomes very much agitated by sexual desire. It is therefore the duty of the father to get his daughter married before she attains puberty. Otherwise she will be very much mortified by not having a husband. Anyone who satisfies her desire for sex at that age becomes a great object of satisfaction. It is a psychological fact that when a woman at the age of puberty meets a man and the man satisfies her sexually, she will love that man for the rest of her life, regardless who he is. Thus so-called love within this material world is nothing but sexual satisfaction.