रक्तमांसास्थिदिग्धानि करभस्य यथा वने । तथैवाऽङ्गानि कामिन्यास्तां प्रत्यपि हि को ग्रहः ॥ ७ ॥
raktamāṁsāsthidigdhāni karabhasya yathā vanē | tathaivā’ṅgāni kāminyāstāṁ pratyapi hi kō grahaḥ || 7 ||
Translation
As the limbs of a camel in the forest are smeared with blood, flesh and bone, so are the limbs of a woman: why then this obsession with them?
Word by word
- rakta
- with blood
- māṁsa
- flesh
- asthi
- and bone
- digdhāni
- smeared
- karabhasya
- of a camel
- yathā
- as
- vanē
- in the forest
- tathā
- so
- ēva
- just
- aṅgāni
- the limbs
- kāminyās
- (kāminyāḥ) of a woman
- tāṁ
- them
- prati
- with
- api
- then
- hi
- indeed
- kō
- (kaḥ) why
- grahaḥ
- this obsession
Meaning
The commentary sees the comparison plainly: a camel's or a donkey's body is made of blood, flesh and bone; so is a woman's; why then such insistence on this one? The question is not an insult but a test of the mind's consistency. Why does the same material excite in one form and not in another? The answer points to the mind, not the body.