Upaniṣads · Yājñavalkya 13
॥
Devanāgarī
सर्वेषां दोषरत्नानां सुसमुद्गिकयानया । दुःखशृङ्खलया नित्यमलमस्तु मम स्त्रिया
Transliteración (IAST)
sarveṣāṃ doṣaratnānāṃ susamudgikayānayā | duḥkhaśṛṅkhalayā nityamalamastu mama striyā
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
सर्वेषां दोष-रत्नानांsarveṣāṃ doṣa-ratnānāṃof all the jewel-vices
सु-समुद्गिकया अनयाsu-samudgikayā anayāby this fine little casket
दुःख-शृङ्खलया नित्यम्duḥkha-śṛṅkhalayā nityama chain of suffering — forever
अलम् अस्तु मम स्त्रियाalam astu mama striyālet there be enough of my wife for me
Traducción
Enough forever, for me, of my wife — this fine little casket of all the jewel-vices, this chain of suffering.
Versión
122c359b67ab · publicado 12 ago 2026, 5:00:00 UTC
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The section approaches its end, and it is worth noting that here the speaker turns to himself: alam astu mama striyā, "enough of my wife for me." That is, the last line of the section is not a judgment about women, but a vow. This shift confirms what was said when reading the tenth verse: before us is a record of a struggle, not a teaching about the subject.
A vow in itself is legitimate and offends no one: a person has the right to decide about himself. The fault remains in that the vow is grounded in the reviling of another; and this grounding, as we have said, is both unfit and ineffective. Let us add one observation worth making at the close of the whole section.
All ten verses are written by a man, for men. There is no corresponding section about men in these books — not because men are better, but because women did not write the books. This observation is simple, and it explains much. Every literature speaks of what troubles its own authors; and the one-sidedness of this section is the one-sidedness not of truth, but of who was writing.
The Vaiṣṇava side has the opposite too, and it is worth citing for balance. Her books are full of women's speeches about men, and these speeches are unflattering: the gopīs in the Bhāgavatam directly reproach Kṛṣṇa for inconstancy and say that friendship with men brings grief (10.47.6 and following). That is, where both sides have a voice, both speak; and this, to my mind, is the one thing that makes such sections bearable.