SB 4.3.19

SB 4.3.19

Devanagari

तथारिभिर्न व्यथते शिलीमुखै: शेतेऽर्दिताङ्गो हृदयेन दूयता । स्वानां यथा वक्रधियां दुरुक्तिभि- र्दिवानिशं तप्यति मर्मताडित: ॥ १९ ॥

Verse text

tathāribhir na vyathate śilīmukhaiḥ śete ’rditāṅgo hṛdayena dūyatā svānāṁ yathā vakra-dhiyāṁ duruktibhir divā-niśaṁ tapyati marma-tāḍitaḥ

Synonyms

tathā so ; aribhiḥ enemy ; na not ; vyathate is hurt ; śilīmukhaiḥ by the arrows ; śete rests ; ardita aggrieved ; aṅgaḥ a part ; hṛdayena by the heart ; dūyatā grieving ; svānām of relatives ; yathā as ; vakra dhiyām — deceitful ; duruktibhiḥ by harsh words ; divā niśam — day and night ; tapyati suffers ; marma tāḍitaḥ — one whose feelings are hurt .

Translation

Lord Śiva continued: If one is hurt by the arrows of an enemy, one is not as aggrieved as when cut by the unkind words of a relative, for such grief continues to rend one’s heart day and night.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Injured in the limbs by arrows fired by enemies, one does not suffer much and can sleep. However, injured by harsh words uttered by relatives of crooked mind, one suffers day and night with distressed heart. Such friends are worse than enemies. Limbs pained by the arrows fired by an enemy do not hurt so much, since one can still sleep. Injured by harsh words of relatives, one suffers pain day and night with a distressed heart (hṛdayena dūyatā).

Purport

Satī might have concluded that she would take the risk of going to her father’s house and even if her father spoke unkindly against her she would be tolerant, as a son sometimes tolerates the reproaches of his parents. But Lord Śiva reminded her that she would not be able to tolerate such unkind words because natural psychology dictates that although one can suffer harm from an enemy and not mind so much because pain inflicted by an enemy is natural, when one is hurt by the strong words of a relative, one suffers the effects continually, day and night, and sometimes the injury becomes so intolerable that one commits suicide.