Shloka 38
विधायालीकविश्रम्भमज्ञेषु त्यक्तसौहृदा: । नवं नवमभीप्सन्त्य: पुंश्चल्य: स्वैरवृत्तय: ॥ ३८ ॥
vidhāyālīka-viśrambham ajñeṣu tyakta-sauhṛdāḥ navaṁ navam abhīpsantyaḥ puṁścalyaḥ svaira-vṛttayaḥ
Women are very easily seduced by men. Therefore, polluted women give up the friendship of a man who is their well-wisher and establish false friendship among fools. Indeed, they seek newer and newer friends, one after another.
Because women are easily seduced, the Manu-saṁhitā enjoins that they should not be given freedom. A woman must always be protected, either by her father, by her husband, or by her elderly son. If women are given freedom to mingle with men like equals, which they now claim to be, they cannot keep their propriety. The nature of a woman, as personally described by Urvaśī, is to establish false friendship with someone and then seek new male companions, one after another, even if this means giving up the company of a sincere well-wisher.
FAQs
This verse says that when genuine affection is abandoned and false intimacy is cultivated among the ignorant, one develops a restless tendency to seek ever-new partners, driven by self-willed, uncontrolled conduct.
Śukadeva Gosvāmī is narrating this teaching while describing the moral dynamics within the Ninth Canto’s historical accounts.
It cautions against building relationships on deception and superficial validation; cultivate truthfulness, discernment, and steady commitment rather than chasing novelty through uncontrolled desire.