अतस्त्वमुपकुर्वाणः प्रत्तां प्रतिगृहाण मे ॥१४॥
ahaá¹ tvÄśṛṇavaá¹ vidvan
vivÄhÄrthaá¹ samudyatam
atas tvam upakurvÄṇaḥ
prattÄá¹ pratigá¹›hÄṇa me
aham - I; tvÄ - you; aśṛṇavam - heard; vidvan - O wise man; vivÄha-artham - for the sake of marriage; samudyatam - prepared; ataḥ - hence; tvam - you; upakurvÄṇaḥ - not taken a vow of perpetual celibacy; prattÄm - offered; pratigá¹›hÄṇa - please accept; me - of me.
SvÄyambhuva Manu continued: O wise man, I heard that you were prepared to marry. Please accept her hand, which is being offered to you by me, since you have not taken a vow of perpetual celibacy.
The principle of brahmacarya is celibacy. There are two kinds of brahmacÄrÄ«s. One is called naiá¹£á¹hika-brahmacÄrÄ«, which means one who takes a vow of celibacy for his whole life, whereas the other, the upakurvÄṇa-brahmacÄrÄ«, is a brahmacÄrÄ« who takes the vow of celibacy up to a certain age. For example, he may take the vow to remain celibate up to twenty-five years of age; then, with the permission of his spiritual master, he enters married life. Brahmacarya is student life, the beginning of life in the spiritual orders, and the principle of brahmacarya is celibacy. Only a householder can indulge in sense gratification or sex life, not a brahmacÄrÄ«. SvÄyambhuva Manu requested Kardama Muni to accept his daughter, since Kardama had not taken the vow of naiá¹£á¹hika-brahmacarya. He was willing to marry, and the suitable daughter of a high royal family was presented.
