Upanishads · Yājñavalkya 9
॥
Devanāgarī
केशकज्जलधारिण्यो दुःस्पर्शा लोचनप्रियाः । दुष्कृताग्निशिखा नार्यो दहन्ति तृणवन्नरम्
Transliteration (IAST)
keśakajjaladhāriṇyo duḥsparśā locanapriyāḥ | duṣkṛtāgniśikhā nāryo dahanti tṛṇavannaram
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
केश-कज्जल-धारिण्यःkeśa-kajjala-dhāriṇyaḥwearing hair and eye-black
दुःस्पर्शाः लोचन-प्रियाःduḥsparśāḥ locana-priyāḥuntouchable, pleasing to the eye
दुष्कृत-अग्नि-शिखाः नार्यःduṣkṛta-agni-śikhāḥ nāryaḥtongues of the flame of wickedness — women
दहन्ति तृण-वत् नरम्dahanti tṛṇa-vat naramburn a man like straw
Translation
Wearing hair and eye-black, untouchable, pleasing to the eye — women are tongues of the flame of wickedness; they burn a man like straw.
Version
35c0cdb72a68 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The image of fire, and it is worth noting that it shifts the blame. Fire is not to blame for burning; straw is not to blame for catching. And this comparison, thought through, absolves both of responsibility.
Here is where the essential thing about this section must be said, apart from any sensitivity. Women are described here as an element: as fire, as a snare, as bait. In not one of the ten verses are they described as persons: they have neither will, nor choice, nor a fate of their own.
And this, to my mind, is the chief fault of the section, not the harshness of the expressions. Persons can be wronged; an element cannot. Hence the speaker does not feel he is speaking of someone: he is speaking of a danger.
The Vaiṣṇava side sets against this not an argument but her own narrative, and it is decisive here. In her books, women speak. Kuntī utters the hymn that is read daily (Bhāgavatam 1.8). Devakī argues with Kaṃsa. Yaśodā scolds Kṛṣṇa and binds him. The gopīs reproach Uddhava and speak with him as equals (10.47).
That is, in her chief book, women are characters with speech, not an element; and this alone makes a description like the present one impossible for her. Let us add what is worth saying about restraint itself, so it does not seem we reject it. Restraint is needed and prescribed; but to ground it in the reviling of those from whom one restrains oneself is an unfit method — unfit above all because it does not work.