Texts 4-5] Devahiti’s Lamentation 905
Hea Waa ai shat AaaaAT |
TTT ae Mea: HraAtT A 4 I
sa vai devarsi-varyas tam
manavim samanuvratam
daivad gariyasah patyur
asadsanam mahasisah
kalena bhiiyasa ksamam
karsitam vrata-caryaya
prema-gadgadaya vaca
piditah krpayabravit
sah—he (Kardama); vai—certainly; deva-rsi—of the celestial sages; varyah
—the foremost; tam—her; madnavim-the daughter of Manu; samanuvratam
—fully devoted; daivat—than providence; gariyasah—who was greater;
patyuh—from her husband; dasdsdndm—expecting; mahd-asisah—great
blessings; kdlena bhityasd—for a long time; ksamam—weak, karsitam—
emaciated; vrata-caryaya—by religious observances; prema—with love;
gadgadaya—stammering; vdcad—with a voice; piditah—overcome; krpaya—
with compassion; abravit—he said.
TRANSLATION
The daughter of Manu, who was fully devoted to her husband, looked
upon him as greater even than providence. Thus she expected great blessings
irom him. Having served him for a long time, she grew weak and emaciated
due to her religious observances. Seeing her condition, Kardama, the fore-
most of celestial sages, was overcome with compassion and spoke to her in
a voice choked with great love.
PURPORT
The wife is expected to be of the same category as the husband. She
must be prepared to follow the principles of the husband, and then there
will be happy life. If the husband is a devotee and the wife is materialistic,
then there cannot be any peace in the home. The wife must see the
tendencies of the husband and must be prepared to follow him. From
Mahabharata we learn that when Gandhari understood that her would-be
husband, Dhrtarastra, was blind, she immediately began to practice blind-
ness herself. Thus she covered her eyes and played the part of a blind
woman. She decided that since her husband was blind, she must also act
