Text 21]
Activities of Kapila
1439
PURPORT
Devahūti was not at all sorry at giving up her material comforts, but she was very much aggrieved at the separation of her son. It may be questioned here that if Devahūti was not at all sorry to give up the material comforts of life, then why was she sorry about losing her son? Why was she so attached to her son? The answer is explained in the next verse. He was not an ordinary son. Her son was the Supreme Personality of God-head. One can give up material attachment, therefore, only when one has attachment for the Supreme Person. This is explained in  Bhagavad-gītā .  Paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate . Only when one actually has some taste for spiritual existence can he be reluctant to follow the materialistic way of life.
TEXT 21
वनं प्रव्रजिते पत्यावपत्यविरहातुरा । 
    इततत्त्वाप्यभूषण्टे वत्से गौरिव वत्सला ॥२१॥
vanaṁ pravrajite patyāv 
    apatya-virahāturā 
    jñāta-tattvāpy abhūn naṣṭe 
    vatse gaur iva vatsalā
vanam—to the forest; pravrajite patyau—when her husband left home; apatya-viraha—by separation from her son; āturā—very sorry; jñāta-tattvā—knowing the truth; api—although; abhūt—she became; naṣṭe vatse—when her calf is lost; gauḥ—a cow; iva—like; vatsalā—affectionate.
TRANSLATION
Devahūti's husband had already left home and accepted the renounced order of life, and then her only son, Kapila, left home. Although she knew all the truths of life and death, and although her heart was cleansed of all dirt, she was very aggrieved at the loss of her son, just as a cow is affected when her calf dies.
PURPORT
A woman whose husband is away from home or has taken the renounced order of life should not be very sorry, because she still has the presence of her husband's representative, her son. It is said in the Vedic