SB 6.18.46 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

दितिरुवाच धारयिष्ये व्रतं ब्रह्मन्ब्रूहि कार्याणि यानि मे । यानि चेह निषिद्धानि न व्रतं घ्नन्ति यान्युत ॥ ४६ ॥

Verse text

ditir uvāca dhārayiṣye vrataṁ brahman brūhi kāryāṇi yāni me yāni ceha niṣiddhāni na vrataṁ ghnanti yāny uta

Synonyms

ditiḥ uvāca — Diti said ; dhārayiṣye — I shall accept ; vratam — vow ; brahman — my dear brāhmaṇa ; brūhi — please state ; kāryāṇi — must be done ; yāni — what ; me — to me ; yāni — what ; ca — and ; iha — here ; niṣiddhāni — is forbidden ; na — not ; vratam — the vow ; ghnanti — break ; yāni — what ; uta — also .

Translation

Diti replied: My dear brāhmaṇa, I must accept your advice and follow the vow. Now let me understand what I have to do, what is forbidden and what will not break the vow. Please clearly state all this to me.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Diti said: O brāhmaṇa! I will follow the vow. Please tell me what should be done and what is forbidden for me, and what will not break the vow.

Purport

As stated above, a woman is generally inclined to serve her own purposes. Kaśyapa Muni proposed to train Diti to fulfill her desires within one year, and since she was eager to kill Indra, she immediately agreed, saying, “Please let me know what the vow is and how I have to follow it. I promise that I shall do the needful and not break the vow.” This is another side of a woman’s psychology. Even though a woman is very fond of fulfilling her own plans, when someone instructs her, especially her husband, she innocently follows, and thus she can be trained for better purposes. By nature a woman wants to be a follower of a man; therefore if the man is good the woman can be trained for a good purpose.