Upanishads · Bṛhadāraṇyaka 6,4.7
॥
Devanāgarī
सा चेद् अस्मै न दद्यात् कामम् एनाम् अवक्रिणीयात् सा चेद् अस्मै न एव दद्यात् कामम् एनाम् यष्ट्या वा पाणिना वा उपहत्य अतिक्रामेत् इन्द्रियेण ते यशसा यशः आददे इति अयशा एव भवति
Transliteration (IAST)
sā ced asmai na dadyāt kāmam enām avakriṇīyāt sā ced asmai na eva dadyāt kāmam enām yaṣṭyā vā pāṇinā vā upahatya atikrāmet indriyeṇa te yaśasā yaśaḥ ādade iti ayaśā eva bhavati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
साsāshe; that one
चेद्cedif; when
अस्मैasmaito him; for him
नnanot; no
दद्यात्dadyātshe should yield (from √dā, optative; na dadyāt); she gives herself; she yields
कामम्kāmamdesire; as you wish
एनाम्enāmit; this
अवक्रिणीयात्avakriṇīyātlet him win her with a gift (ava + √krī, optative); to incline her with a present; to win her over with a gift
साsāshe; that one
चेद्cedif; when
अस्मैasmaito him; for him
नnanot; no
एवevaindeed; only
दद्यात्dadyātshe should yield (from √dā, optative; na dadyāt); she gives herself; she yields
कामम्kāmamdesire; as you wish
एनाम्enāmit; this
यष्ट्याyaṣṭyāwith a staff (yaṣṭi, instr.); with a stick; with a staff
वाvātruly; surely
पाणिनाpāṇināwith his hand; with his palm
वाvātruly; surely
उपहत्यupahatyahaving struck; having touched her with force
अतिक्रामेत्atikrāmethe oversteps her (ati + √kram, optative); he transgresses; he oversteps
इन्द्रियेणindriyeṇawith the power of the senses; with the faculty
तेteto you; your
यशसाyaśasāwith fame; by the radiance
यशःyaśaḥglory; the radiance
आददेādadeI take; I take it up
इतिitithus; how
अयशाayaśāinglorious (a-yaśas); bereft of glory; inglorious
एवevaindeed; only
भवतिbhavatibecomes; is
Translation
If she will not consent to him, let him try to win her over with a gift; if even then she will not consent, let him, touching her with a staff or with his hand, overstep [the custom] with the words: "By strength and by glory I take away your glory" — and she becomes inglorious…
Version
f4cb7ec03c18 · published Jul 27, 2026, 1:28:05 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A verse that honesty allows neither to be discarded nor to be prettified: a wife's refusal is met here first with a gift and then with compulsion and a spell. This is the voice of an ancient patriarchal law in which the marital duty was conceived as a ritual obligation — and the tradition itself corrected that voice: the dharma-śāstras and the canon of bhakti established the way of consent, not of spells; the Bhāgavatam makes mutual devotion, not power, the measure of marriage.
The reader ought to see the historical stratum in the verse — and to hear the movement of the Veda itself: the very next verse gives preference to a mutual love in which "both become glorious". The canon grows like a tree: this knot is evidence of the trunk, not a model to follow; what is eternal in it is only the principle of the seriousness of union — everything else has been healed by the later light of the same tradition.