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SB 6.18.42

 

TEXT 42

 

na hi kascit priyah strinam

anjasa svasisatmanam

patim putram bhrataram va

ghnanty arthe ghatayanti ca

 

 

TRANSLATION

 

To satisfy their own interests, women deal with men as if the men were

most dear to them, but no one is actually dear to them. Women are supposed to

be very saintly, but for their own interests they can kill even their husbands,

sons or brothers, or cause them to be killed by others.

 

PURPORT

 

A woman's nature has been particularly well studied by Kasyapa Muni. Women

are self-interested by nature, and therefore they should be protected by all

means so that their natural inclination to be too self-interested will not be

manifested. Women need to be protected by men. A woman should be cared for by

her father in her childhood, by her husband in her youth and by her grown sons

in her old age. This is the injunction of Manu, who says that a woman should

not be given independence at any stage. Women must be cared for so that they

will not be free to manifest their natural tendency for gross selfishness.

There have been many cases, even in the present day, in which women have killed

their husbands to take advantage of their insurance policies. This is not a

criticism of women but a practical study of their nature. Such natural

instincts of a woman or a man are manifested only in the bodily conception of

life. When either a man or a woman is advanced in spiritual consciousness, the

bodily conception of life practically vanishes. We should see all women as

spiritual units (aham brahmasmi), whose only duty is to satisfy Krsna. Then the

influences of the different modes of material nature, which result from one's

possessing a material body, will not act.

The Krsna consciousness movement is so beneficial that it can very easily

counteract the contamination of material nature, which results from one's

possessing a material body. Bhagavad-gita therefore teaches, in the very

beginning, that whether one is a man or a woman, one must know that he or she

is not the body but a spiritual soul. Everyone should be interested in the

activities of the spirit soul, not the body. As long as one is activated by the

bodily conception of life, there is always the danger of being misled, whether

one is a man or a woman. The soul is sometimes described as purusa because

whether one is dressed as a man or a woman, one is inclined to enjoy this

material world. One who has this spirit of enjoyment is described as purusa.

Whether one is a man or a woman, he is not interested in serving others;

everyone is interested in satisfying his or her own senses. Krsna

consciousness, however, provides first-class training for a man or a woman. A

man should be trained to be a first-class devotee of Lord Krsna, and a woman

should be trained to be a very chaste follower of her husband. That will make

the lives of both of them happy.