Vamana Purana — Jabali on the Banyan Tree, Shloka 52
Jabali Bound on the Banyan Tree and Nandayanti’s Appeal at Sri-Kantha on the Yamuna
आत्मा प्रदत्तः स्वातन्त्र्यात् ततस्तामशपत् पिता यस्माद् धर्मं परित्यज्य स्त्रीभावान् मन्दचेतसे
ātmā pradattaḥ svātantryāt tatastāmaśapat pitā yasmād dharmaṃ parityajya strībhāvān mandacetase
স্বাতন্ত্ৰ্যবোধে তাই নিজকে সমৰ্পণ কৰিছিল। তেতিয়া তাইৰ পিতাই তাইক শাপ দিলে—‘হে মন্দচেতা! তুমি ধৰ্ম ত্যাগ কৰি স্ত্ৰীভাব গ্ৰহণ কৰিছা…’
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FAQs
It indicates self-bestowal—she pledged herself to a man by her own will rather than through a formally sanctioned marriage arrangement. Purāṇic narratives often treat such acts as socially disruptive, prompting a curse or corrective consequence.
The verse frames the act as autonomous choice, contrasting it with dharma as understood by the father (family/ritual order). The tension between personal desire and dharmic/social expectation is the moral engine of the episode.
Here it functions idiomatically: ‘acting in a merely passion-driven feminine role’ as perceived by the father—i.e., being led by desire rather than dharmic discernment. It is a gendered moral critique typical of older normative discourse.