SB 3.23.51
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT 51
- devahūtir uvāca
- sarvaṁ tad bhagavān mahyam
- upovāha pratiśrutam
- athāpi me prapannāyā
- abhayaṁ dātum arhasi
SYNONYMS
devahūtiḥ — Devahūti; uvāca — said; sarvam — all; tat — that; bhagavān — Your Lordship; mahyam — for me; upovāha — has been fulfilled; pratiśrutam — promised; atha api — yet; me — unto me; prapannāyai — unto one who has surrendered; abhayam — fearlessness; dātum — to give; arhasi — you deserve.
TRANSLATION
Śrī Devahūti said: My lord, you have fulfilled all the promises you gave me, yet because I am your surrendered soul, you should give me fearlessness too.
PURPORT
Devahūti requested her husband to grant her something without fear. As a wife, she was a fully surrendered soul to her husband, and it is the responsibility of the husband to give his wife fearlessness. How one awards fearlessness to his subordinate is mentioned in the Fifth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. One who cannot get free from the clutches of death is dependent, and he should not become a spiritual master, nor a husband, nor a kinsman, nor a father, nor a mother, etc. It is the duty of the superior to give fearlessness to the subordinate. To take charge of someone, therefore, either as father, mother, spiritual master, relative or husband, one must accept the responsibility to give his ward freedom from the fearful situation of material existence. Material existence is always fearful and full of anxiety. Devahūti is saying, "You have given me all sorts of material comforts by your yogic power, and since you are now prepared to go away, you must give me your last award so that I may get free from this material, conditional life."