Srimad Bhagavatam — Chaturtha Skandha, Shloka 11
Lord Śiva Instructs the Pracetās (Śiva-stuti and the Path of Bhakti)
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
神々の主ブラフマーの命により、（バルヒシャト）は海の娘シャタドルティを娶った。全身が麗しく、若く、ふさわしい衣と飾りで整えられた彼女が婚礼の場を巡って歩むのを見て、火神アグニは、かつてシュキーを望んだ時のように、彼女の伴侶となることを切に望んだ。
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.