striyo vratais tvÄ hášášŁÄŤkeĹvaraáš svato
hy ÄrÄdhya loke patim ÄĹÄsate 'nyam
tÄsÄáš na te vai paripÄnty apatyaáš
priyaáš dhanÄyĹŤášášŁi yato 'sva-tantrÄḼ
striyaḼ - all women; vrataiḼ - by observing fasting and other vows; tvÄ - you; hášášŁÄŤkeĹvaram - the Supreme Personality of Godhead, master of the senses; svataḼ - of your own accord; hi - certainly; ÄrÄdhya - worshiping; loke - in the world; patim - a husband; ÄĹÄsate - ask for; anyam - another; tÄsÄm - of all those women; na - not; te - the husbands; vai - indeed; paripÄnti - able to protect; apatyam - the children; priyam - very dear; dhana - the wealth; ÄyĹŤášášŁi - or the duration of life; yataḼ - because; asva-tantrÄḼ - dependent.
In this verse, LakᚣmÄŤdevÄŤ (RamÄ) shows compassion toward women who worship the Lord for the benediction of possessing a good husband. Although such women desire to be happy with children, wealth, a long duration of life and everything dear to them, they cannot possibly do so. In the material world, a so-called husband is dependent on the control of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There are many examples of a woman whose husband, being dependent on the result of his own fruitive actions, cannot maintain his wife, her children, her wealth or her duration of life. Therefore, factually the only real husband of all women is KášášŁáša, the supreme husband. Because the gopÄŤs were liberated souls, they understood this fact. Therefore they rejected their material husbands and accepted KášášŁáša as their real husband. KášášŁáša is the real husband not only of the gopÄŤs, but of every living entity. Everyone should perfectly understand that KášášŁáša is the real husband of all living entities, who are described in the Bhagavad-gÄŤtÄ as prakášti (female), not puruᚣa (male). In Bhagavad-gÄŤtÄ (10.12), only KášášŁáša is addressed as puruᚣa:
paraáš brahma paraáš dhÄma
pavitraáš paramaáš bhavÄn
puruᚣaáš ĹÄĹvataáš divyam
Ädi-devam ajaáš vibhum
âYou are the Supreme Brahman, the ultimate, the supreme abode and purifier, the Absolute Truth and the eternal divine person. You are the primal God, transcendental and original, and You are the unborn and all-pervading beauty.â
KášášŁáša is the original puruᚣa, and the living entities are prakášti. Thus KášášŁáša is the enjoyer, and all living entities are meant to be enjoyed by Him. Therefore any woman who seeks a material husband for her protection, or any man who desires to become the husband of a woman, is under illusion. To become a husband means to maintain a wife and children nicely by supplying wealth and security. However, a material husband cannot possibly do this, for he is dependent on his karma. KarmaášÄ-daiva-netreáša: his circumstances are determined by his past fruitive activities. Therefore if one proudly thinks he can protect his wife, he is under illusion. KášášŁáša is the only husband, and therefore the relationship between a husband and wife in this material world cannot be absolute. Because we have the desire to marry, KášášŁáša mercifully allows the so-called husband to possess a wife, and the wife to possess a so-called husband, for mutual satisfaction. In the ÄŞĹopaniᚣad it is said, tena tyaktena bhuĂąjÄŤthÄ: the Lord provides everyone with his quota. Actually, however, every living entity is prakášti, or female, and KášášŁáša is the only husband.
ekale ÄŤĹvara kášášŁáša, Ära saba bháštya
yÄre yaiche nÄcÄya, se taiche kare náštya
(Cc. Ädi 5.142)
KášášŁáša is the original master or husband of everyone, and all other living entities, having taken the form of so-called husbands, or wives, are dancing according to His desire. A so-called husband may unite with his wife for sense gratification, but his senses are conducted by HášášŁÄŤkeĹa, the master of the senses, who is therefore the actual husband.