764 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 1, Ch. 14

require the protection of the state or a ksatriya king. If such living beings
do not get protection by the ksatriya, or the royal order, or by the state,
it is certainly shameful for the ksatriya or the state. Maharaja Yudhisthira
was anxious to know about this discrepancy on the part of Arjuna, if such

things had actually happened.
TEXT 42
THR aT TaTATTAAA: fH ERI

kaccit tvam nagamo ‘gamyam
gamyam vasat-krtam striyam

parajito vatha bhavan
nottamair nasamath pathi

kaccit—whether; tvam—yourself; na—not; agamah—did contact;
agamyam—impeachable; gamyam—acceptable; va—either; asat-krtam—
improperly treated; striyam—a woman; parajitah—defeated by; va—either;
atha—after all; bhavan—your good self; na—not; uttamaih—by superior
power; na—nor; asamaih—by equals; pathi—on the road.

TRANSLATION

Have you contacted a woman of impeachable character, or have you
not properly treated a deserving woman? Or have you been defeated on
the way by someone who is inferior or equal to you?

PURPORT

It appears from this verse that during the time of the Pandavas free
contact between man and woman was allowed in certain conditions only.
The higher caste men, namely the brahmanas and ksatriyas, could accept
a woman of the vaigya or the s&dra community, but a man from the lower
castes could not contact a woman of the higher caste. Even a ksatriya
could not contact a woman of the brahmana caste. The wife of a brahmana
is considered one of the seven mothers (namely one’s own mother, the
wife of the spiritual master or teacher, the wife of a brahmana, the wife of
a king, the cow, the nurse, and the earth). Such contact between man and
woman was known as uttama and adhama., Contact of a brahmana with a
