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Note, that this question is NOT a duplicate of this, or this, or even this.

This verse from the Narada Smriti permits sex with promiscuous women, prostitutes, and unmarried women freely:

12.78 - Intercourse is permitted with a wanton woman, who belongs to another than the Brahmana caste, or a prostitute, or a female slave, or a female not restrained by her master, if these women belong to a lower caste than oneself; but with a woman of superior caste, intercourse is prohibited.

Narada is understood to be an incarnation of Vishnu. This means that Vishnu permits men to have sex with prostitutes, promiscuous girls, unmarried women, and female slaves.

But first, is this an authentic verse spoken by Narada Rishi himself?

According to the footnote for that verse on sacred-texts.com, there were many medieval commentators for that verse, namely, Madhvacharya, Vigñânesvara, Mita Misra, Viśvanātha, and others.

My question is, can someone provide an English commentary for that verse, or an English translation of the Sanskrit commentary for that verse?

Thanks

Ikshvaku
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1 Answers1

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My question is, can someone provide an English commentary for that verse, or an English translation of the Sanskrit commentary for that verse?

The verse is cited by Vijnaneshvara in the famous Mitakshara, which is a commentary on the Yajnavalkya smriti.

He cites this Narada smriti verse in the commentary of a similar Yajnavalkya smriti verse and says that "permitted" in this context only means that the man may not be punished by the king:

But here, there being an absence of a visible obstruction such as the fear of the father or other guardian, or of the royal sanction, the use of the language "connection is permissible" is proper.

But it doesn't mean that it's not sinful, for he says:

An expiation however, is ordained equally for the women who are approached, as also for the men, due to disobeying rules of Dharma.

And,

Although there is no penalty, sin is still incurred since the rule is that "a man should always restrict himself to his wife", as well as an expiation: "For having sex with animals or prostitutes, the Prajapatya prayaschitta is ordained."

Ikshvaku
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