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
Sebagaimana dahulu para dewa mengecam minum-minuman memabukkan, kelengahan, dan semacamnya—demikian pula berkata, ‘perempuan ini ada di sisiku,’ lalu menuruti kenikmatan seperti itu adalah tercela.
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.