362
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 1, Ch. 7]
or to the son of a  brāhmaṇa . This is due to her mild nature as a woman. The woman as a class is no better than a boy, and therefore, they have no discriminatory power like a man. Aśvatthāmā proved himself to be an unworthy son of Droṇācārya or of a  brāhmaṇa , and for this reason he was condemned by the greatest authority Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and yet a mild woman could not withdraw her natural courtesy for a  brāhmaṇa .
Even to date, in a Hindu family a woman shows proper respect to the  brāhmaṇa  caste, however fallen and heinous a  brahma-bandhu  may be. But the men have begun to protest against  brahma-bandhus  who are born in families of good  brāhmaṇas  but by action are less than  śūdras .
The specific word used in this  śloka  is  vāma sva-bhāvā , mild and gentle by nature. A good man or woman accepts anything very easily, but a man of average intelligence does not do so. But anyway, we should not give up our reason and discriminatory power just to be gentle. One must have good discriminatory power to judge a thing on its merit. We should not follow the mild nature of a woman and thereby accept that which is not genuine. Aśvatthāmā may be respected by a good-natured woman, but that does not mean that he is as good as a genuine  brāhmaṇa .
TEXT 43
उवाच चासहन्त्यस्य बन्धनानयनं सती । मुच्यतां मुच्यतामेष ब्राह्मणो नितरां गुरुः ॥४३॥
uvāca cāsahanty asya bandhanānayanam satī mucyatām mucyatām eṣa brāhmaṇo nitarām guruḥ
uvāca—said; ca—and; asahantī—being unbearable for her; asya—his; bandhanā—being bound up; ānayanam—bringing him; satī—the devoted; mucyatām—just get him released; eṣah—this; brāhmaṇah—a brāhmaṇa; nitarām—our; guruḥ—teacher.
TRANSLATION
She could not tolerate Aśvatthāmā's being bound by ropes, and being a devoted lady, she said: Release him, for he is a  brāhmaṇa , our spiritual master.