पितृभ्यां प्रस्थिते साध्वी पतिमिङ्गितकोविदा ।
नित्यं पर्यचरत्प्रीत्या भवानीव भवं प्रभुम् ॥१॥
maitreya uvÄca
pitá¹›bhyÄá¹ prasthite sÄdhvÄ«
patim iá¹…gita-kovidÄ
nityaá¹ paryacarat prÄ«tyÄ
bhavÄnÄ«va bhavaá¹ prabhum
maitreyaḥ uvÄca - Maitreya said; pitá¹›bhyÄm - by the parents; prasthite - at the departure; sÄdhvÄ« - the chaste woman; patim - her husband; iá¹…gita-kovidÄ - understanding the desires; nityam - constantly; paryacarat - she served; prÄ«tyÄ - with great love; bhavÄnÄ« - the goddess PÄrvatÄ«; iva - like; bhavam - Lord Åšiva; prabhum - her lord.
Maitreya continued: After the departure of her parents, the chaste woman DevahÅ«ti, who could understand the desires of her husband, served him constantly with great love, as BhavÄnÄ«, the wife of Lord Åšiva, serves her husband.
The specific example of BhavÄnÄ« is very significant. BhavÄnÄ« means the wife of Bhava, or Lord Åšiva. BhavÄnÄ«, or PÄrvatÄ«, the daughter of the King of the HimÄlayas, selected Lord Åšiva, 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 Åšiva, who did not even have a house, but was sitting underneath the trees and passing his time in meditation. Although BhavÄnÄ« was the daughter of a very great king, she used to serve Lord Åšiva just like a poor woman. Similarly, DevahÅ«ti was the daughter of an emperor, SvÄyambhuva Manu, yet she preferred to accept Kardama Muni as her husband. She served him with great love and affection, and she knew how to please him. Therefore she is designated here as sÄdhvÄ«, which means “a chaste, faithful wife.†Her rare example is the ideal of Vedic civilization. Every woman is expected to be as good and chaste as DevahÅ«ti or BhavÄnÄ«. Today in Hindu society, unmarried girls are still taught to worship Lord Åšiva with the idea that they may get husbands like him. Lord Åšiva is the ideal husband, not in the sense of riches or sense gratification, but because he is the greatest of all devotees. VaiṣṇavÄnÄá¹ yathÄ Å›ambhuḥ: Åšambhu, or Lord Åšiva, is the ideal Vaiṣṇava. He constantly meditates upon Lord RÄma and chants Hare RÄma, Hare RÄma, RÄma RÄma, Hare Hare. Lord Åšiva has a Vaiṣṇava sampradÄya, which is called the ViṣṇusvÄmÄ« sampradÄya. Unmarried girls worship Lord Åšiva so that they can expect a husband who is as good a Vaiṣṇava as he. The girls are not taught to select a husband who is very rich or very opulent for material sense gratification; rather, if a girl is fortunate enough to get a husband as good as Lord Åšiva in devotional service, then her life becomes perfect. The wife is dependent on the husband, and if the husband is a Vaiṣṇava, then naturally she shares the devotional service of the husband because she renders him service. This reciprocation of service and love between husband and wife is the ideal of a householder’s life.
