Vamana Purana — Jabali on the Banyan Tree, Shloka 52
Jabali Bound on the Banyan Tree and Nandayanti’s Appeal at Sri-Kantha on the Yamuna
आत्मा प्रदत्तः स्वातन्त्र्यात् ततस्तामशपत् पिता यस्माद् धर्मं परित्यज्य स्त्रीभावान् मन्दचेतसे
ātmā pradattaḥ svātantryāt tatastāmaśapat pitā yasmād dharmaṃ parityajya strībhāvān mandacetase
स्वातन्त्र्यादात्मा प्रदत्तः; ततः पिता तामशपत्—‘यस्माद् धर्मं परित्यज्य, स्त्रीभावान् मन्दचेतसे, त्वं प्रवृत्ता’ इति॥
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FAQs
It indicates self-bestowal—she pledged herself to a man by her own will rather than through a formally sanctioned marriage arrangement. Purāṇic narratives often treat such acts as socially disruptive, prompting a curse or corrective consequence.
The verse frames the act as autonomous choice, contrasting it with dharma as understood by the father (family/ritual order). The tension between personal desire and dharmic/social expectation is the moral engine of the episode.
Here it functions idiomatically: ‘acting in a merely passion-driven feminine role’ as perceived by the father—i.e., being led by desire rather than dharmic discernment. It is a gendered moral critique typical of older normative discourse.