yatra praviá¹£á¹am ÄtmÄnaá¹
vibudhÄnucarÄ jaguḥ
vÄpyÄm utpala-gandhinyÄá¹
kardamenopalÄlitam
yatra - where; praviá¹£á¹am - entered; ÄtmÄnam - unto her; vibudha-anucarÄḥ - the associates of the denizens of heaven; jaguḥ - sang; vÄpyÄm - in the pond; utpala - of lotuses; gandhinyÄm - with the fragrance; kardamena - by Kardama; upalÄlitam - treated with great care.
The ideal husband-and-wife relationship is very nicely described in this statement. Kardama Muni gave DevahÅ«ti all sorts of comforts in his duty as a husband, but he was not at all attached to his wife. As soon as his son, Kapiladeva, was grown up, Kardama at once left all family connection. Similarly, DevahÅ«ti was the daughter of a great king, SvÄyambhuva Manu, and was qualified and beautiful, but she was completely dependent on the protection of her husband. According to Manu, women, the fair sex, should not have independence at any stage of life. In childhood a woman must be under the protection of the parents, in youth she must be under the protection of the husband, and in old age she must be under the protection of the grown children. DevahÅ«ti demonstrated all these statements of the Manu-saá¹hitÄ in her life: as a child she was dependent on her father, later she was dependent on her husband, in spite of her opulence, and she was later on dependent on her son, Kapiladeva.