Shloka 11
सामुद्रीं देवदेवोक्तामुपयेमे शतद्रुतिम् । यां वीक्ष्य चारुसर्वाङ्गीं किशोरीं सुष्ठ्वलङ्कृताम् । परिक्रमन्तीमुद्वाहे चकमेऽग्नि: शुकीमिव ॥ ११ ॥
sāmudrīṁ devadevoktām upayeme śatadrutim yāṁ vīkṣya cāru-sarvāṅgīṁ kiśorīṁ suṣṭhv-alaṅkṛtām parikramantīm udvāhe cakame ’gniḥ śukīm iva
By the order of Brahmā, the lord of the devas, (Barhiṣat) married Śatadruti, the ocean’s daughter. Seeing her—beautiful in every limb, youthful, and adorned with fitting garments—when she circumambulated the wedding arena, Agni, the fire-god, became enamored and longed for her company, just as he had once desired Śukī.
In this verse the word suṣṭhv-alaṅkṛtām is significant. According to the Vedic system, when a girl is married, she is very profusely and gorgeously decorated with costly saris and jewelry, and during the marriage ceremony the bride circumambulates the bridegroom seven times. After this, the bridegroom and bride look at one another and become attracted for life. When the bridegroom finds the bride very beautiful, the attraction between them immediately becomes very strongly fixed. As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, men and women are naturally attracted to one another, and when they are united by marriage that attraction becomes very strong. Being so strongly attracted, the bridegroom attempts to set up a nice homestead and eventually a good field for producing grains. Then children come, then friends, and then wealth. In this way the male becomes more and more entangled in the material conceptions of life, and he begins to think, “This is mine,” and “It is I who am acting.” In this way the illusion of material existence is perpetuated.
FAQs
This verse depicts the bride circumambulating during the wedding rite (udvāha), showing that formal Vedic marriage ceremonies include sacred ritual movements performed in a sanctified setting.
Śukadeva uses a vivid simile—fire desiring a śukī—to emphasize the sudden intensity of Śatadruti’s attraction upon seeing Samudrī’s beauty during the ceremony.
It highlights the power of visual attraction and desire, encouraging self-awareness and discipline so that strong emotions are guided by dharma and sacred commitment rather than impulse.