Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Srimad Bhagavatam 4.25.42

kasya manas te bhuvi bhogi-bhogayoh

striya na sajjed bhujayor maha-bhuja

yo 'natha-vargadhim alam ghrinoddhata-

smitavalokena caraty apohitum

SYNONYMS

kasyah -- whose; manah -- mind; te -- your; bhuvi -- in this world;bhogi-bhogayoh -- like the body of a serpent; striyah -- of a woman; na -- not;sajjet -- becomes attracted; bhujayoh -- by the arms; maha-bhuja -- O mighty-armed; yah -- one who; anatha-varga -- of poor women like me; adhim -- distresses of the mind; alam -- able; ghrina-uddhata -- by aggressive mercy;smita-avalokena -- by attractive smiling; carati -- travels; apohitum -- todissipate.

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.

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 anatha-varga is very significant in this verse. Natha means "husband," and a means "without." A young woman who has no husband is called anatha, 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.

imam tvam adhitishthasva

purim nava-mukhim vibho

mayopanitan grihnanah

kama-bhogan satam samah

SYNONYMS

imam -- this; tvam -- your good self; adhitishthasva -- just remain; purim -- in the city; nava-mukhim -- with nine gates; vibho -- O my lord; maya -- by me;upanitan -- arranged; grihnanah -- taking; kama-bhogan -- the materials for sense gratification; satam -- a hundred; samah -- years.

TRANSLATION

My dear lord, I have just arranged this city of nine gates for you so that you can have all kinds of sense gratification. You may live here for one hundred years, and everything for your sense gratification will be supplied.

PURPORT

Dharmartha-kama-mokshanam darah samprapti-hetavah. The wife is the cause of all kinds of success in religion, economic development, sense gratification and ultimately salvation. When one accepts a wife, it is to be understood that he is being helped in his progressive march toward liberation. In the beginning of life a person is trained as a brahmacari and is then allowed to marry a suitable girl and become a householder. If one is thoroughly trained in household life, he finds all facilities for human life -- eating, sleeping, mating and defending. Everything is there if it is executed according to regulative principles.

nanv agniḥ pramadā nāma

ghṛta-kumbha-samaḥ pumān

sutām api raho jahyād

anyadā yāvad-artha-kṛt

SYNONYMS

nanu — certainly; agniḥ — the fire; pramadā — the woman (one who bewilders the mind of man); nāma — the very name; ghṛta-kumbha — a pot of butter;samaḥ — like; pumān — a man; sutām api — even one's daughter; rahaḥ — ina secluded place; jahyāt — one must not associate with; anyadā — with other women also; yāvat — as much as; artha-kṛt — required.

TRANSLATION

Woman is compared to fire, and man is compared to a butter pot. Therefore a man should avoid associating even with his own daughter in a secluded place. Similarly, he should also avoid association with other women. One should associate with women only for important business and not otherwise.

PURPORT

If a butter pot and fire are kept together, the butter within the pot will certainly melt. Woman is compared to fire, and man is compared to a butter pot. However advanced one may be in restraining the senses, it is almost impossible for a man to keep himself controlled in the presence of a woman, even if she is his own daughter, mother or sister. Indeed, his mind is agitated even if one is in the renounced order of life. Therefore, Vedic civilization carefully restricts mingling between men and women. If one cannot understand the basic principle of restraining association between man and woman, he is to be considered an animal. That is the purport of this verse.