72 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 9, Ch. 3

Nonetheless, her father expected her to be faithful to her husband.
When he suddenly saw that his daughter had accepted someone else,
even though the man was young and handsome, he immediately
chastised her as asati, unchaste, because he assumed that she had ac-
cepted another man in the presence of her husband. According to Vedic
culture, even if a young woman is given an old husband, she must re-
spectfully serve him. This is chastity. It is not that because she dislikes
her husband she may give him up and accept another. This is against
Vedic culture. According to Vedic culture, a woman must accept the hus-
band given to her by her parents and remain chaste and faithful to him.
Therefore King Saryati was surprised to see a young man by the side of
Sukanya.
TEXT 21

ay afasmmaern aa
gore aq feacy |

fai a arm Fs
eT AAA ATTA: RZ

katham matis te vagatanyatha satam
kula-prasite kula-disanam tv idam
bibharsi jarar yad apatrapa kulam
pitus ca bhartus ca nayasy adhas tamah

katham—how; matih te—your consciousness; avagata—has gone
down; anyatha—otherwise; satam—of the most respectable; kula-
prasite—O my daughter, born in the family; kula-disanam—who are
the degradation of the family; tu—but; idam—this; bibharsi—you are
maintaining; jdram—a paramour; yat—as it is; apatrapd—without
shame; kulam—the dynasty; pituh—of your father; ca—and; bhartuh
—of your husband; ca—and; nayasi—you are bringing down; adhah
tamah—downward into darkness or hell.

TRANSLATION

O my daughter, who were born in a respectable family, how
have you degraded your consciousness in this way? How is it that
