Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 4 - Chapter 1 - Verse 19


Sanskrit:

तथारिभिर्न व्यथते शिलीमुखै:शेतेऽर्दिताङ्गो हृदयेन दूयता ।स्वानां यथा वक्रधियां दुरुक्तिभि-र्दिवानिशं तप्यति मर्मताडित: ॥ १९ ॥

ITRANS:

tathāribhir na vyathate śilīmukhaiḥśete ’rditāṅgo hṛdayena dūyatāsvānāṁ yathā vakra-dhiyāṁ duruktibhirdivā-niśaṁ tapyati marma-tāḍitaḥ

Translation:

Lord Śiva continued: If one is hurt by the arrows of an enemy, one is not as aggrieved as when cut by the unkind words of a relative, for such grief continues to rend one’s heart day and night.

Purport:

Satī might have concluded that she would take the risk of going to her father’s house and even if her father spoke unkindly against her she would be tolerant, as a son sometimes tolerates the reproaches of his parents. But Lord Śiva reminded her that she would not be able to tolerate such unkind words because natural psychology dictates that although one can suffer harm from an enemy and not mind so much because pain inflicted by an enemy is natural, when one is hurt by the strong words of a relative, one suffers the effects continually, day and night, and sometimes the injury becomes so intolerable that one commits suicide.