Text 8
taṁ durhṛdaṁ suhṛd-rūpaṁ
kāminaṁ kṣaṇa-sauhṛdam
indriyārāmam utsṛjya
svāminaṁ duḥkhitā yayau
tam — him (the he-goat); durhṛdam — cruel hearted; suhṛt-rūpam — pretending to be a friend; kāminam — very lusty; kṣaṇa-sauhṛdam — having friendship for the time being; indriya-ārāmam — interested only in sense gratification or sensuality; utsṛjya — giving up; svāminam — to her present husband, or to the former maintainer; duḥkhitā — being very much aggrieved; yayau — she left.
Aggrieved by her husband’s behavior with another, the she-goat thought that the he-goat was not actually her friend but was hardhearted and was her friend only for the time being. Therefore, because her husband was lusty, she left him and returned to her former maintainer.
The word svāminam is significant. Svāmī means “caretaker” or “master.” Devayānī was cared for by Śukrācārya before her marriage, and after her marriage she was cared for by Yayāti, but here the word svāminam indicates that Devayānī left the protection of her husband, Yayāti, and returned to her former protector, Śukrācārya. Vedic civilization recommends that a woman stay under the protection of a man. During childhood she should be cared for by her father, in youth by her husband, and in old age by a grown son. In any stage of life, a woman should not have independence.