CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Devahūti's Lamentation
TEXT 1
मैत्रेय उवाच
पितृभ्यां प्रस्थिते साध्वी पतिमिङ्गितकोविदा ।
नित्यं पर्यचरत्प्रीत्या भवानीव भवं प्रभुम् ॥ १ ॥
maitreya uvāca
pitṛbhyām prasthite sādhvī
patim iṅgita-kovidā
nityam paryacarat prītyā
bhavānīva bhavam prabhum
maitreyaḥ uvāca —Maitreya said;  pitṛbhyām —by the parents;  prasthite —at the departure;  sādhvī —the chaste woman;  patim —her husband;  iṅgita-kovidā —understanding the desires;  nityam —constantly;  paryacarat —she served;  prītyā —with great love;  bhavānī —the goddess Pārvatī;  iva —like;  bhavam —Lord Śiva;  prabhum —her lord.
TRANSLATION
Maitreya continued: After the departure of her parents, the chaste woman Devahūti, who could understand the desires of her husband, served him constantly with great love, as Bhavānī, the wife of Lord Śiva, serves her husband.
PURPORT
The specific example of Bhavānī is very significant. Bhavānī means the wife of Bhava, or Lord Śiva. Bhavānī, or Pārvatī, the daughter of the King of the Himalayas, selected Lord Śiva, who appears to be just like a beggar, as her husband. In spite of her being a princess, she undertook all kinds of tribulations to associate with Lord Śiva, who did not even have a house but was sitting underneath the trees and passing his time in meditation.
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