श्रेष्ठं मत्वा तयायच्छन्मात्रे मातुरदत् स्वयम् ॥९॥
tÄvat satyavatÄ« mÄtrÄ
sva-caruá¹ yÄcitÄ satÄ«
Å›reá¹£á¹haá¹ matvÄ tayÄyacchan
mÄtre mÄtur adat svayam
tÄvat - in the meantime; satyavatÄ« - SatyavatÄ«, the wife of ṚcÄ«ka; mÄtrÄ - by her mother; sva-carum - the oblation meant for herself (SatyavatÄ«); yÄcitÄ - asked to give; satÄ« - being; Å›reá¹£á¹ham - better; matvÄ - thinking; tayÄ - by her; ayacchat - delivered; mÄtre - to her mother; mÄtuḥ - of the mother; adat - ate; svayam - personally.
Meanwhile, because Satyavatī’s mother thought that the oblation prepared for her daughter, Ṛcīka’s wife, must be better, she asked her daughter for that oblation. Satyavatī therefore gave her own oblation to her mother and ate her mother’s oblation herself.
A husband naturally has some affection for his wife. Therefore Satyavatī’s mother thought that the oblation prepared for Satyavatī by the sage Ṛcīka must have been better than her own oblation. In Ṛcīka’s absence, the mother took the better oblation from Satyavatī and ate it.
