25. Here and there, O Bráhman! her flesh and blood and bones undergo a change for the worse in course of a few days.

26. You see sir, those dearly beloved mistresses, who are so much fondled by foolish men, lying at last in the cemetery, and the members of their bodies all mangled and falling off from their places.

27. O Bráhman! those dear objects of love—the faces of damsels, so fondly decorated by their lovers with paints and pastes, are at last to be singed on the piles (by those very hands).

28. Their braided hairs now hang as flappers of chouri on the arbors of the cemetery, and their whitened bones are strewn about as shining stars after a few days.

29. Behold their blood sucked in by the dust of the earth, voracious beasts and worms feeding upon their flesh, jackals tearing their skin, and their vital air wafted in the vacuum.

30. This is the state to which the members of the female body must shortly come to pass, you say all existence to be delusion, tell me therefore why do you allow yourselves to fall into error?

31. A woman is no other than a form composed of the five elements, then why should intelligent men be fondly attached to her (at the risk of their ruin)?

32. Men’s longing for women is likened to the creeper called Suta, which stretches its sprigs to a great length, but bears plenty of bitter and sour fruits.

33. A man blinded by avarice (for the supportance of his mate) is as a stray deer from its herd; and not knowing which way to go, is lost in the maze of illusion.

34. A young man under the control of a young woman, is as much lamentable as an elephant fallen into a pit of the Vindhya mountain in pursuit of his mate.