Text 21] Activities of Kapila 1439

PURPORT

Devahiti 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 ques-
tioned here that if Devahiti 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-gita.
Pararh drstva nivartate. Only when one actually has some taste for spiritual
existence can he be reluctant to follow the materialistic way of life.

TEXT 21
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vanam pravrajite patyav
apatya-virahatura

jiidta-tattvapy abhiin naste
vatse gaur iva vatsala

vanam—to the forest; pravrajite patyau—when her husband left home;
apatya-viraha—by separation from her son; atura—very sorry ; jfiata-tattva—
knowing the truth; api—although; abhiit—she became; naste vatse—when
her calf is lost; gawh—a cow; iva—like; vatsala—affectionate.

TRANSLATION

Devahuti’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 re-
nounced 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
