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ŚB 4.4.7

Devanagari

तामागतां तत्र न कश्चनाद्रियद्
विमानितां यज्ञकृतो भयाज्जन: ।
ऋते स्वसृर्वै जननीं च सादरा:
प्रेमाश्रुकण्ठ्य: परिषस्वजुर्मुदा ॥ ७ ॥

Text

tām āgatāṁ tatra na kaścanādriyad
vimānitāṁ yajña-kṛto bhayāj janaḥ
ṛte svasṝr vai jananīṁ ca sādarāḥ
premāśru-kaṇṭhyaḥ pariṣasvajur mudā

Synonyms

tām — her (Satī); āgatām — having arrived; tatra — there; na — not; kaścana — anyone; ādriyat — received; vimānitām — not receiving respect; yajña-kṛtaḥ — of the performer of the sacrifice (Dakṣa); bhayāt — from fear; janaḥ — person; ṛte — except; svasṝḥ — her own sisters; vai — indeed; jananīm — mother; ca — and; sa-ādarāḥ — with respect; prema-aśru-kaṇṭhyaḥ — whose throats were filled with tears of affection; pariṣasvajuḥ — embraced; mudā — with glad faces.

Translation

When Satī, with her followers, reached the arena, because all the people assembled were afraid of Dakṣa, none of them received her well. No one welcomed her but her mother and sisters, who, with tears in their eyes and with glad faces, welcomed her and talked with her very pleasingly.

Purport

The mother and sisters of Satī could not follow the others, who did not receive Satī very well. Due to natural affection, they immediately embraced her with tears in their eyes and with loving feelings. This shows that women as a class are very softhearted; their natural affection and love cannot be checked by artificial means. Although the men present were very learned brāhmaṇas and demigods, they were afraid of their superior, Dakṣa, and because they knew that their welcoming Satī would displease him, although in their minds they wanted to receive her, they could not do so. Women are naturally softhearted, but men are sometimes very hardhearted.