इतः केशा इतो रक्तमितीयं प्रमदातनुः । किमेतया निन्दितया करोति विपुलाशयः ॥ ३ ॥
itaḥ kēśā itō raktamitīyaṁ pramadātanuḥ | kimētayā ninditayā karōti vipulāśayaḥ || 3 ||
Translation
"Here hair, here blood": such is this body of a woman. What can a man of large mind do with this, which is to be deplored?
Word by word
- itaḥ
- here
- kēśā
- (keśāḥ) hair
- itō
- (itaḥ) here
- raktam
- blood
- iti
- such
- iyaṁ
- this
- pramadā
- of a woman
- tanuḥ
- body
- kim
- what
- ētayā
- with this
- ninditayā
- to be deplored
- karōti
- can do
- vipula
- of large
- āśayaḥ
- mind
Meaning
The body is listed like an inventory: hair here, blood there, flesh elsewhere. The man of "large mind" (vipulāśaya), the discriminating, does nothing with it, the commentary says, for he sees what it is. The verse is aimed at the imagination that adds beauty to these parts. When the inventory is honest, the beauty the mind supplied is seen to be the mind's own.