Shloka 13
Vyādha–Brāhmaṇa Saṃvāda: Śāpa, Vṛtta-Dharma, and Counsel Against Viṣāda
Grief
याक्ष क्र्रेषु सत्त्वेषु वर्तमाना जुगुप्सिता: | स्वकर्म कुर्वन्ति सदा दुष्करं तच्च मे मतम्,“जो सती-साध्वी स्त्रियाँ क्रूर स्वभावके पतियोंकी सेवामें रहकर उनके तिरस्कारका पात्र बनकर भी सदा अपने सती-धर्मका पालन करती रहती हैं, वह तो मुझे और भी अत्यन्त कठिन प्रतीत होता है
yāḥ krūreṣu sattveṣu vartamānā jugupsitāḥ | svakarma kurvanti sadā duṣkaraṃ tacca me matam ||
Vaiśampāyana disse: “Aquelas mulheres virtuosas que vivem com maridos de índole cruel —ainda que se tornem alvo de desprezo— e, mesmo assim, cumprem sempre o seu dever (como esposas fiéis): isso, a meu ver, é um empreendimento ainda mais difícil.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral difficulty of sustaining dharma when one is placed in a hostile domestic environment: continuing one’s rightful duty with steadiness, even when met with contempt, is portrayed as exceptionally hard and therefore ethically weighty.
Vaiśampāyana, as narrator, comments on the severe challenge faced by virtuous women who must live with cruel husbands; he frames their continued performance of wifely duty as a particularly difficult form of endurance and righteousness.