SB 3.23.3
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT 3
- visṛjya kāmaṁ dambhaṁ ca
- dveṣaṁ lobham aghaṁ madam
- apramattodyatā nityaṁ
- tejīyāṁsam atoṣayat
SYNONYMS
visṛjya — giving up; kāmam — lust; dambham — pride; ca — and; dveṣam — envy; lobham — greed; agham — sinful activities; madam — vanity; apramattā — sane; udyatā — laboring diligently; nityam — always; tejīyāṁsam — her very powerful husband; atoṣayat — she pleased.
TRANSLATION
Working sanely and diligently, she pleased her very powerful husband, giving up all lust, pride, envy, greed, sinful activities and vanity.
PURPORT
Here are some of the qualities of a great husband's great wife. Kardama Muni is great by spiritual qualification. Such a husband is called tejīyāṁsam, most powerful. Although a wife may be equal to her husband in advancement in spiritual consciousness, she should not be vainly proud. Sometimes it happens that the wife comes from a very rich family, as did Devahūti, the daughter of Emperor Svāyambhuva Manu. She could have been very proud of her parentage, but that is forbidden. The wife should not be proud of her parental position. She must always be submissive to the husband and must give up all vanity. As soon as the wife becomes proud of her parentage, her pride creates great misunderstanding between the husband and wife, and their nuptial life is ruined. Devahūti was very careful about that, and therefore it is said here that she gave up pride completely. Devahūti was not unfaithful. The most sinful activity for a wife is to accept another husband or another lover. Cāṇakya Paṇḍita has described four kinds of enemies at home. If the father is in debt he is considered to be an enemy; if the mother has selected another husband in the presence of her grown-up children, she is considered to be an enemy; if a wife does not live well with her husband but deals very roughly, then she is an enemy; and if a son is a fool, he is also an enemy. In family life, father, mother, wife and children are assets, but if the wife or mother accepts another husband in the presence of her husband or son, then, according to Vedic civilization, she is considered an enemy. A chaste and faithful woman must not practice adultery—that is a greatly sinful act.