Text 16
sotsṛjya dhairyaṁ vilalāpa śoka-
dāvāgninā dāva-lateva bālā
vākyaṁ sapatnyāḥ smaratī saroja-
śriyā dṛśā bāṣpa-kalām uvāha
sā — she; utsṛjya — giving up; dhairyam — patience; vilalāpa — lamented; śoka-dāva-agninā — by the fire of grief; dāva-latā iva — like burnt leaves; bālā — the woman; vākyam — words; sa-patnyāḥ — spoken by her co-wife; smaratī — remember; saroja-śriyā — a face as beautiful as a lotus; dṛśā — by looking; bāṣpa-kalām — weeping; uvāha — said.
This incident was unbearable to Sunīti’s patience. She began to burn as if in a forest fire, and in her grief she became just like a burnt leaf and so lamented. As she remembered the words of her co-wife, her bright, lotuslike face filled with tears, and thus she spoke.
When a man is aggrieved, he feels exactly like a burnt leaf in a forest fire. Sunīti’s position was like that. Although her face was as beautiful as a lotus flower, it dried up because of the burning fire caused by the harsh words of her co-wife.