Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.3.19

tathāribhir na vyathate śilīmukhaiḥ

śete 'rditāńgo hṛdayena dūyatā

svānāḿ yathā vakra-dhiyāḿ duruktibhir

divā-niśaḿ tapyati marma-tāḍitaḥ

SYNONYMS

tathā — so; aribhiḥ — enemy; na — not; vyathate — is hurt; śilīmukhaiḥ — by the arrows; śete — rests; ardita — aggrieved; ańgaḥ — a part; hṛdayena — by the heart; dūyatā — grieving; svānām — of relatives; yathā — as; vakra-dhiyām — deceitful; duruktibhiḥ — by harsh words; divā-niśam — day and night; tapyati — suffers; marma-tāḍitaḥ — one whose feelings are hurt.

TRANSLATION

Lord Śiva continued: If one is hurt by the arrows of an enemy, one is not as aggrieved as when cut by the unkind words of a relative, for such grief continues to rend one's heart day and night.

PURPORT

Satī might have concluded that she would take the risk of going to her father's house, and even if her father spoke unkindly against her she would be tolerant, as a son sometimes tolerates the reproaches of his parents. But Lord Śiva reminded her that she would not be able to tolerate such unkind words because natural psychology dictates that although one can suffer harm from an enemy and not mind so much because pain inflicted by an enemy is natural, when one is hurt by the strong words of a relative, one suffers the effects continually, day and night, and sometimes the injury becomes so intolerable that one commits suicide.

<<< >>>

Copyright © The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness