Shloka 80

Aṣṭāvakra–Strī-saṃvāda: Dhṛti, hospitality, and a dispute on autonomy

Devanagari script

दुःखिता प्रेक्ष्य संजल्पमकार्षीदृषिणा सह । ब्रह्मन्नकामतो<न्यास्ति स्त्रीणां पुरुषतो धृति:

Transliteration

duḥkhitā prekṣya sañjalpam akārsīd ṛṣiṇā saha | brahmann akāmatо 'nyāsti strīṇāṃ puruṣato dhṛtiḥ ||

Translation

Als er sie in Bedrängnis sah, sprach sie im Zwiegespräch mit dem Weisen: „O Brahmane, für Frauen gibt es keine Standhaftigkeit, die vom Willen des Mannes unabhängig wäre; ihr Entschluss wird vom Mann erzwungen.“

Word by Word

दुःखिताdistressed, sorrowful

प्रेक्ष्यhaving seen

संजल्पम्speech, talk, utterance

अकार्षीत्she made / she uttered

ऋषिणाwith the sage

सहtogether with

ब्रह्मन्O Brahmin

अकामतःunwillingly, against one’s will

अन्याother (than this)

अस्तिis / exists

स्त्रीणाम्of women

पुरुषतःfrom a man / on account of a man

धृतिःsteadfastness, self-control, resolve

Speaker

सअद्टावक्र उवाच

Characters & Entities

Aṣṭāvakra

a Brahmin (brahman)

a sage (ṛṣi)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse comments on social dependence and constrained agency: it portrays women’s resolve (dhṛti) as being shaped—sometimes against their own wish—by male authority, raising an ethical reflection on autonomy, consent, and the power structures assumed in the narrative world.

What is happening in the narrative?

A distressed woman, after observing the situation, speaks while consulting a sage and addresses a Brahmin. Her statement frames women’s firmness of purpose as not self-determined but contingent upon a man, indicating the moral and social tension being discussed in this section.