Skip to content
Yoga Vasistham
My Notes
Yoga Vasistham
More
Share
Explore
Book 1 - Vairagya Prakaranam

Chapter 21 — Denunciation of Women

1. श्रीराम उवाच ।
मांसपाञ्चालिकायास्तु यन्त्रलोलेऽङ्गपञ्जरे ।
स्नाय्वस्थिग्रन्थिशालिन्याः स्त्रियाः किमिव शोभनं ॥ १ ॥
Rama added:—
What beauty is there in the person of a woman, composed of nerves, bones and joints? She is a mere statue of flesh, and a frame of moving machinery with her ribs and limbs.
2. त्वङ्मांसरक्तबाष्पाम्बु पृथक्कृत्वा विलोचनम् ।
समालोकय रम्यं चेत्किं मुधा परिमुह्यसि ॥ २ ॥
Can you find any thing beautiful in the female form, separated from its (component parts of the) flesh, skin, blood and water, that is worth beholding? Why then dote upon it?
3. इतः केशा इतो रक्तमितीयं प्रमदातनुः ।
किमेतया निन्दितया करोति विपुलाशयः ॥ ३ ॥
This fairy frame consisting of hairs in one part and blood in the other, cannot engage the attention of a high-minded man to its blemishes.
4. वासोविलेपनैर्यानि लालितानि पुनः पुनः ।
तान्यङ्गान्यङ्ग लुण्ठन्ति क्रव्यादाः सर्वदेहिनाम् ॥ ४ ॥
The bodies of females, that are so covered with clothing and repeatedly besmeared with paints and perfumes, are (at last) devoured by carnivorous (beasts and worms).
5. मेरुश्रृंगतटोल्लासिगंगाजलरयोपमा ।
दृष्टा यस्मिन्स्तने मुक्ताहारस्योल्लासशालिता ॥ ५ ॥
The breasts of women decorated with strings of pearl, appear as charming as the pinnacles of Sumeru, washed by the waters of Ganges falling upon them.
6. श्मशानेषु दिगन्तेषु स एव ललनास्तनः ।
श्वभिरास्वाद्यते काले लघुपिण्ड इवान्धसः ॥ ५ ॥
Look at these very breasts of the woman becoming at last a lump of food, to be devoured by dogs in cemeteries and on the naked ground.
7. रक्तमांसास्थिदिग्धानि करभस्य यथा वने ।
तथैवाङ्गानि कामिन्यास्तां प्रत्यपि हि को ग्रहः ॥ ७ ॥
There is no difference between a woman and a young elephant that lives in the jungle, both of them being made of blood, flesh and bones. Then why hunt after her.
8. आपातरमणीयत्वं कल्पते केवलं स्त्रियाः ।
मन्ये तदपि नास्त्यत्र मुने मोहैककारणम् ॥ ८ ॥
A woman is charming only for a short time, and does not long last to be so. I look upon her merely as a cause of delusion.
9. विपुलोल्लासदायिन्या मदमन्मथपूर्वकम् ।
को विशेषो विकारिण्या मदिरायाः स्त्रियास्तथा ॥ ९ ॥
There is no difference between wine and a woman, both of them tending equally to produce high-flown mirth and jollity, and creating revelry and lust.
10. ललनालानसंलीना मुने मानवदन्तिनः ।
प्रबोधं नाधिगच्छन्ति दृढैरपि शमाङ्कुशैः ॥ १० ॥
Uxorious men (men having an excessive or submissive fondness for one’s wife) are like chained elephants among mankind, that will never come to sense however goaded by the hooks of reason.
11. केशकज्जलधारिण्यो दुःस्पर्शा लोचनप्रियाः ।
दुष्कृताग्निशिखा नार्यो दहन्ति तृणवन्नरम् ॥ ११ ॥
Women are the flames of vice, their black-dyed eye and hairs are as their smoke and soot. They are as intangible as fire, though pleasing to the sight. They burn the man as fire consumes the straw.
12. ज्वलतामतिदूरेऽपि सरसा अपि नीरसाः ।
स्त्रियो हि नरकाग्नीनामिन्धनं चारु दारुणम् ॥ १२ ॥
They burn from afar (more than fire), and are as dry as bones (in their hearts), though appearing as soft and juicy to sight. They serve as fuel to the fire of hell, and are dangerous with their charmingness.
13. विकीर्णाकारकबरी तरत्तारकलोचना ।
पुर्णेन्दुबिम्बवदना कुसुमोत्करहासिनी ॥ १३ ॥
The woman resembles a moon-light night, veiled over by her loosened locks, and looking through her starry eyes. She shows her moon-like face amidst her flowery smiles.
14. लीलाविलोलपुरुषा कार्यसंहारकारिणी ।
परं विमोहनं बुद्धेः कामिनी दीर्घयामिनी ॥ १४ ॥
Her soft dalliance destroys all manly energy, and her caresses overpower the good sense of men, as the shade of night does the sleeping (world).
15. पुष्पाभिराममधुरा करपल्लवशालिनी ।
भ्रमराक्षिविलासाढ्या स्तनस्तबकधारिणी ॥ १५ ॥
The woman is as lovely as a creeper in its flowering time. Her palm are the leaves and her eyes as the black-bees (on the flower). Her breasts are as the uplifted tops of the plant.
16. पुष्पकेसरगौराङ्गी नरमारणतत्परा ।
ददात्युन्मत्तवैवश्यं कान्ता विषलता यथा ॥ १६ ॥
The lovely damsel is like a poisonous creeper, fair as the filament of a flower but destructive of life, by causing inebriation and insensibility.
17. सत्कार्योच्छ्वासमात्रेण भुजङ्गदलनोत्कया ।
कान्तयोद्ध्रियते जन्तुः करभ्येवोरगो बिलात् ॥ १७ ॥
As the snake-catcher entices the snake by his breath and brings it out of its hole, so does the woman allure the man by her officious civilities, and gets him under her control.
18. कामनाम्ना किरातेन विकीर्णा मुग्धचेतसाम् ।
नार्यो नरविहंगानामङ्गबन्धनवागुराः ॥ १८ ॥
Concupiscence as a huntsman, has spread his nets in the forms of women, for the purpose of ensnaring the persons of deluded men like silly birds.
19. ललनाविपुलालाने मनोमत्तमतंगजः ।
रतिशृङ्खलया ब्रह्मन्बद्धस्तिष्ठति मूकवत् ॥ १९ ॥
The mind of man though as fierce as that of a furious elephant, is tied fast by the chain of love to the fulcrum of women, just as an elephant is fastened (by his leg) to the post, where he remains dull and dumb for ever.
20. जन्मपल्वलमत्स्यानां चित्तकर्दमचारिणाम् ।
पुंसां दुर्वासनारज्जुर्नारी बडिशपिण्डिका ॥ २० ॥
Human life is as a pool in which the mind moves about in its mud and mire (as a fish). Here it is caught by the bait of woman, and dragged along by the thread of its impure desires.
21. मन्दुरं च तुरङ्गाणामालानमिव दन्तिनाम् ।
पुंसां मन्त्र इवाहीनां बन्धनं वामलोचना ॥ २१ ॥
The beauteous-eyed damsel is a bondage to man, as the stable is to the horse, the fastening post to the elephant, and as spells are to the snakes.
22. नानारसवती चित्रा भोगभूमिरियं मुने ।
स्त्रियमाश्रित्य संयाता परामिह हि संस्थितिम् ॥ २२ ॥
This wondrous world, with all its delights and enjoyments, began with woman and depends on women for its continuance.
23. सर्वेषां दोषरत्नानां सुसमुद्गिकयाऽनया ।
दुःखशृङ्खलया नित्यमलमस्तु मम स्त्रिया ॥ २३ ॥
A woman is the casket of all gems of vice (Pandora’s box), she is the cause of the chain of our everlasting misery, and is of no use to me.
24. किं स्तनेन किमक्ष्णा वा किं नितम्बेन किं भुवा ।
मांसमात्रैकसारेण करोम्यहमवस्तुना ॥ २४ ॥
What shall I do with her breast, her eyes, her loins, her eyebrows, the substance of which is but flesh, and which therefore is altogether unsubstantial.
25. इतो मांसमितो रक्तमितोऽस्थीनीति वासरैः ।
ब्रह्मन्कतिपयैरेव याति स्त्री विशरारुताम् ॥ २५ ॥
Here and there, O Brahman! her flesh and blood and bones undergo a change for the worse in course of a few days.
26. यास्तात पुरुषैः स्थूलैर्ललिता मनुजैः प्रियाः ।
ता मुने प्रविभक्ताङ्ग्यः स्वपन्ति पितृभूमिषु ॥ २६ ॥
You see sir, those dearly beloved mistresses, who are so much fondled by foolish men, lying at last in the cemetery, and the members of their bodies all mangled and falling off from their places.
27. यस्मिन्घनतरस्नेहं मुखे पत्राङ्कुराः स्त्रियः ।
कान्तेन रचिता ब्रह्मन्पीयते तेन जङ्गले ॥ २७ ॥
O Brahman! those dear objects of love—the faces of damsels, so fondly decorated by their lovers with paints and pastes, are at last to be singed on the piles (by those very hands).
28. केशाः श्मशानवृक्षेषु यान्ति चामरलेखिकाम् ।
अस्थीन्युडुवदाभान्ति दिनैरवनिमण्डले ॥ २८ ॥
Their braided hairs now hang as flappers of chowry on the arbors of the cemetery, and their whitened bones are strewn about as shining stars after a few days.
29. पिबन्ति पांसवो रक्तं क्रव्यादाश्चाप्यनेकशः ।
चर्माणि च शिवा भुङ्क्ते खं यान्ति प्राणवायवः ॥ २९ ॥
Behold their blood sucked in by the dust of the earth, voracious beasts and worms feeding upon their flesh, jackals tearing their skin, and their vital air wafted in the vacuum.
30. इत्येषा ललनाङ्गानामचिरेणैव भाविनी ।
स्थितिर्मया वः कथिता किं भ्रान्तिमनुधावथ ॥ ३० ॥
This is the state to which the members of the female body must shortly come to pass, you say all existence to be delusion, tell me therefore why do you allow yourselves to fall into error?
31. भूतपञ्चकसंघट्टसंस्थानं ललनाभिधम् ।
रसादभिपतत्वेतत्कथं नाम धियान्वितः ॥ ३१ ॥
A woman is no other than a form composed of the five elements, then why should intelligent men be fondly attached to her (at the risk of their ruin)?
32. शाखाप्रतानगहना कट्वम्लफलमालिनी ।
सुतालोत्तालतामेति चिन्ता कान्तानुसारिणी ॥ ३२ ॥
Men’s longing for women is likened to the creeper called Suta, which stretches its sprigs to a great length, but bears plenty of bitter and sour fruits.
33. कान्दिग्भूततया चेतो घनगर्धान्धमाकुलम् ।
परं मोहमुपादत्ते यूथभ्रष्टमृगो यथा ॥ ३३ ॥
Want to print your doc?
This is not the way.
Try clicking the ⋯ next to your doc name or using a keyboard shortcut (
CtrlP
) instead.