Shloka 4
Adhyaya 19 — Kartavirya Arjuna at Dattatreya’s Ashram: Boons, Sovereignty, and Vaishnava Praise
यथैवोक्ताः पुरा देवाः मद्यभोगादिकुत्सनम् ।
स्त्री चेयं मम पार्श्वस्थेत्येतद्भोगाच्च कुत्सितम् ॥
yathaivoktāḥ purā devā madyabhogādikutsanam / strī ceyaṃ mama pārśvasthā ity etad bhogāc ca kutsitam
Así como los dioses antaño hablaron condenando la bebida y la entrega al deleite y cosas semejantes—del mismo modo, decir «esta mujer está a mi lado» y abandonarse a tal disfrute es también censurable.
FAQs
The verse frames indulgence—especially intoxication and possessive sensuality—as spiritually and ethically degrading; it warns a ruler that self-mastery is integral to legitimate power.
Dharma-teaching embedded in narrative (ākhyāna). It is not one of the five cosmological marks, but a didactic passage within vaṃśānucarita-style storytelling.
‘Woman at my side’ can function as a symbol of appropriation—turning relationship into possession; the critique targets the ego’s claim (‘mine’) that converts śakti into an object of consumption.