Devanagari
तस्मा उन्मादनाथाय नष्टशौचाय दुर्हृदे ।
दत्ता बत मया साध्वी चोदिते परमेष्ठिना ॥ १६ ॥
Verse text
tasmā unmāda-nāthāya
naṣṭa-śaucāya durhṛde
dattā bata mayā sādhvī
codite parameṣṭhinā
Synonyms
tasmai
—
to him
;
unmāda
—
nāthāya — to the lord of ghosts
;
naṣṭa
—
śaucāya — being devoid of all cleanliness
;
durhṛde
—
heart filled with nasty things
;
dattā
—
was given
;
bata
—
alas
;
mayā
—
by me
;
sādhvī
—
Satī
;
codite
—
being requested
;
parameṣṭhinā
—
by the supreme teacher (Brahmā) .
Translation
On the request of Lord Brahmā I handed over my chaste daughter to him, although he is devoid of all cleanliness and his heart is filled with nasty things.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Requested by Brahmā, I gave Satī to this unclean lord of the insane, who has an impure heart.
It was not my wish to give her to Śiva. Respecting the order of Brahmā, I have fallen into suffering. This implies that Brahmā is unintelligent. He does not mention that Brahmā is his father. This indicates that Brahmā is unqualified to be his father. That verse may also be taken as a statement of praise. Śiva is merciful even to the mad (unnmāda-nāthāya). He purifies even the impure (naṣṭa-śaucāya). His mind is merciful even to the sinful (durhṛde). Though I am unqualified I have my daughter because of Brahmā’s request.
Purport
It is the duty of parents to hand over their daughters to suitable persons just befitting their family tradition in cleanliness, gentle behavior, wealth, social position, etc. Dakṣa was repentant that on the request of Brahmā, who was his father, he had handed over his daughter to a person who, according to his calculation, was nasty. He was so angry that he did not acknowledge that the request was from his father. Instead, he referred to Brahmā as
parameṣṭhī,
the supreme teacher in the universe; because of his temperament of gross anger, he was not even prepared to accept Brahmā as his father. In other words, he accused even Brahmā of being less intelligent because he had advised Dakṣa to hand over his beautiful daughter to such a nasty fellow. In anger one forgets everything, and thus Dakṣa, in anger, not only accused the great Lord Śiva, but criticized his own father, Lord Brahmā, for his not very astute advice that Dakṣa hand over his daughter to Lord Śiva.