Text 9
tāvat satyavatī mātrā
sva-caruṁ yācitā satī
śreṣṭhaṁ matvā tayāyacchan
mātre mātur adat svayam
tāvat — in the meantime; satyavatī — Satyavatī, the wife of Ṛcīka; mātrā — by her mother; sva-carum — the oblation meant for herself (Satyavatī); yācitā — asked to give; satī — being; śreṣṭham — better; matvā — thinking; tayā — by her; ayacchat — delivered; mātre — to her mother; mātuḥ — of the mother; adat — ate; svayam — personally.
Meanwhile, because Satyavatī’s mother thought that the oblation prepared for her daughter, Ṛcīka’s wife, must be better, she asked her daughter for that oblation. Satyavatī therefore gave her own oblation to her mother and ate her mother’s oblation herself.
A husband naturally has some affection for his wife. Therefore Satyavatī’s mother thought that the oblation prepared for Satyavatī by the sage Ṛcīka must have been better than her own oblation. In Ṛcīka’s absence, the mother took the better oblation from Satyavatī and ate it.