Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana Book 4 Chapter 26:17-26

Book 4: Chapter 26

Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana: Book 4: Chapter 26: Verses 17-26 Puranjana goes a hunting to the forest and the queen gets angry with him The ladies replied : 0 lord of men, we know not what your beloved wife is bent upon (doing). (Just) see her lying on the bare ground, O slayer of foes ! Narada went on : Puranjana, whose judgment had been shaken through attachment to his wife, was sorely perturbed to see her lying unkempt on the ground. With an aching heart he tried to pacify her with soft words, but failed to perceive in (the behaviour of) his beloved queen any sign of anger prompted by love towards him. The gallant youth then gradually began to cajole her, skilled as he was in (the art of) conciliation. He touched her feet and, having seated her in his lap and caressed her, spoke (as follows). Puranjana said : Unlucky indeed are those servants whom, when they have committed some offence, their masters, O fair one, care not to punish by way of correction, recognizing them as subject to their control. Punishment meted out to servants by their master is an act of supreme grace (on the latter's part). He who resents it is a fool in that he fails to recognize it as a friendly act, O lovely one. Therefore, O proud lady with beautiful teeth and graceful eyebrows, reveal to us, who are yours, your face with a prominent nose and a sweet tongue, hanging under the weight of love and bashfulness, charming with smiling glances and decked with dark bee-like tresses. I shall (presently) inflict (suitable) punishment, O spouse of a warrior, on him who has wronged you, unless he belongs to the Brahmana race. I do not find him immune from fear, much less rejoicing, in all the three worlds (or even) beyond them, if he is other than a servant of Lord Visnu (the Slayer of the demon Mura). Never before did I see your face without its Tilaka (sacred mark on the forehead), dull, cheerless, frowning with anger, untrimmed and sullen, nor did I (ever) see even your lovely breasts soiled with tears of grief and your lips, ruddy as the ripe Bimba fruit, without their saffron-like hue. Therefore, be gracious to me, your loved one, even though I have committed an offence against you in that I went out a hunting of my own will ( without taking your leave), seized with a passion for sport. What woman, longing for union, would not accept, for befitting services, her beloved one, who was (ever) under her sway and had been deprived of his patience by the vehemence of love ? Thus ends the twenty-sixth discourse forming part of the story of Puranjana, in Book Four of the great and glorious Bhagavata-Purana, otherwise known as the Paramahamsa-Samhita.