Shloka 7
Vyādha–Brāhmaṇa Saṃvāda: Śāpa, Vṛtta-Dharma, and Counsel Against Viṣāda
Grief
पतिं दैवतवच्चापि चिन्तयन्त्य: स्थिता हि या: । भगवन् दुष्करं त्वेतत् प्रतिभाति मम प्रभो,'प्रभो! आप अब हमें पतिव्रता स्त्रियोंकी महिमा सुनावें। निष्पाप सहर्ष] जो अपनी इन्द्रियोंको संयममें रखती हुई मनको वशमें करके अपने पतिका देवताके समान ही चिन्तन करती रहती हैं, वे नारियाँ धन्य हैं। प्रभो! भगवन्! उनका वह त्याग और सेवाभाव मुझे तो अत्यन्त कठिन जान पड़ता है
patiṁ daivatavac cāpi cintayantyaḥ sthitā hi yāḥ | bhagavan duṣkaraṁ tv etat pratibhāti mama prabho |
Vaiśampāyana said: “O Blessed one, O Lord, this seems exceedingly difficult to me: those women who, steady in self-restraint, keep their senses in check and their mind under control, and who continually contemplate their husband as though he were a deity—such women are truly fortunate. Their renunciation and spirit of service appear to me almost impossible to accomplish.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights an ideal of pativratā-dharma: steadfast self-restraint and single-minded devotion expressed as service and reverent regard for one’s husband. It frames this ideal as ethically demanding—requiring control of senses and mind—and therefore worthy of admiration.
Vaiśampāyana, in the course of narrating teachings about the greatness of devoted wives, remarks that such unwavering discipline and service—treating the husband as divine—seems extremely difficult to him, thereby emphasizing the austerity and perceived excellence of that conduct.