Text 9
tyaja tyajāśu duṣprajñe
mat-kṣetrād āhitaṁ paraiḥ
nāhaṁ tvāṁ bhasmasāt kuryāṁ
striyaṁ sāntānike ’sati
tyaja — deliver; tyaja — deliver; āśu — immediately; duṣprajñe — you foolish woman; mat-kṣetrāt — from the womb meant for me to impregnate; āhitam — begotten; paraiḥ — by others; na — not; aham — I; tvām — you; bhasmasāt — burnt to ashes; kuryām — shall make; striyam — because you are a woman; sāntānike — wanting a child; asati — although you are unchaste.
Bṛhaspati said: You foolish woman, your womb, which was meant for me to impregnate, has been impregnated by someone other than me. Immediately deliver your child! Immediately deliver it! Be assured that after the child is delivered, I shall not burn you to ashes. I know that although you are unchaste, you wanted a son. Therefore I shall not punish you.
Tārā was married to Bṛhaspati, and therefore as a chaste woman she should have been impregnated by him. But instead she preferred to be impregnated by Soma, the moon-god, and therefore she was unchaste. Although Bṛhaspati accepted Tārā from Brahmā, when he saw that she was pregnant he wanted her to deliver a son immediately. Tārā certainly very much feared her husband, and she thought she might be punished after giving birth. Thus Bṛhaspati assured her that he would not punish her, for although she was unchaste and had become pregnant illicitly, he wanted a son.