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Śrimad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 6, Ch. 18]
TEXT 42
न हि कश्चित्प्रियः स्त्रीणामञ्जसा स्वाशिषात्मनाम् । पतिं पुत्रं भ्रातरं वा घन्त्यर्थे घातयन्ति च ॥४२॥
na hi kaścit priyaḥ strīṇām añjasā svāśiṣātmanām patim putram bhrātaram vā ghnanty arthe ghātayanti ca
na —not;  hi —certainly;  kaścit —anyone;  priyaḥ —dear;  strīṇām —to women;  añjasā —actually;  sva-āśiṣā —for their own interests;  āt-manām —most dear;  patim —husband;  putram —son;  bhrātaram —brother;  vā —or;  ghnanti —they kill;  arthe —for their own interests;  ghātayanti —cause to be killed;  ca —also.
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 Kaśyapa 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