Brahma Vaivarta Purana Chapter 17:81-90

Brahma Vaivarta Purana

Çri Våndävana-nagara-varnana

Description of Çri Våndävana

Chapter 17: Verse 81-90

ENGLISH TRANSLATION 81. O Brahmä, if my beloved husband becomes liberated, then who will be the protector of my virtue and my youth? 82.In a woman's childhood, the father is her protector. She is given to a suitable husband and he becomes her protector. In his absence the son is her protector. 83.These are the three protectors in the three stages of a woman's life. Independent women that protect themselves, and thus reject the principles of religion, perish. 84.O Brahmä, they take birth in the families of demons and become wicked-hearted prostitutes. A hundred births of their past pious deeds perish. 85.As she always loves her small children, so a chaste woman always loves her dear husband, whether he be young or old. 86.The love a mother bears for her beautiful infant child is not equal to one sixteenth of the love a chaste wife bears for her husband. 87.A mother thinks of her infant when she gives him her breast or when she feeds him nice foods, but a chaste wife thinks of her husband always, awake or asleep. 88.When separated from her relatives, a woman suffers greatly. When separated from her children, she suffers more. When separated from her husband, she suffers very terribly. For a woman no suffering is worse than that. 89.A wise woman burns in separation from her husband, as is she were in a blazing fire or a flood of poison. 90.Separated from her husband, a chaste wife has no appetite for food or drink. Her mind and heart are like a bundle of straw thrust into the flames of separation.