1 / 15

Chapter 23: Devahuti's Lamentation

Chapter 23: Devahuti's Lamentation. Recap from Chapter 22. To carryout his father, Lord Brahma’s order to produce progeny and thus help him populate the newly created universe, Kardama Muni performed severe austerities in KC for 10,000 years to please the Lord (family planning in Satya-yuga!)

neka
Download Presentation

Chapter 23: Devahuti's Lamentation

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Chapter 23: Devahuti's Lamentation

  2. Recap from Chapter 22 • To carryout his father, Lord Brahma’s order to produce progeny and thus help him populate the newly created universe, Kardama Muni performed severe austerities in KC for 10,000 years to please the Lord (family planning in Satya-yuga!) • Lord was very pleased with his austerities and granted him His personal audience. • Although Kardama knew better to ask the Lord for material awards in his prayers, he nonetheless asked Him for a beautiful wife of like disposition. And the Lord obliged him so. (Contd)

  3. Recap from Chapter 22 (Contd) • Maitreya Muni describes how Vedic marriages are “arranged” • The parents look for a suitable match for their daughter, with her full consent though. • It is the girl’s parents who then extends the proposal to the prospective boy and his parents. • From the example of Kardama, we learn what ought to be the criteria for acceptance of such a proposal—Devahuti had fixed her mind exclusively on him! • However, his acceptance was based on a condition that he would accept the renounced order of life as soon as children are born—the purpose of entering into grhasthāsrma is to produce KC children and not for sense gratification. (Contd)

  4. Therefore, if chapter 22 was all about how Vedic marriages are arranged, chapter 23 is about what is an ideal Vedic married life is all about as illustrated by Kardama Muni and Devahuti.

  5. Chapter 23: An Overview Verses 1-11 • Maitreya continued: After the departure of her parents, Devahuti, neglecting her own body, served her husband at her husband constantly with intimacy, great respect, love and sweet words. Kardama expressed his pleasure at her service and bestowed upon her the blessings of the Lord, which he had received by his spiritual austerities. He also blessed her with the ability to appreciate such transcendental gifts. Devahuti was very satisfied. She then reminded her husband about her promise to have children with her and desired a suitable body and residence for that purpose. (Contd)

  6. Chapter 23: An Overview (Contd) Verses 12-38 • Kardama exercised his yogic power and instantly produced very opulent and well decorated 7-story aerial mansion that could travel at his will. He also arranged 1,000 Gandharva maidservants to bathe, dress, and decorate Devahuti, so that she regained her former beauty as a princess, and he placed her on the mansion. Though seemingly attached to his beloved consort, the sage did not lose his glory, which was masterly over his self. (Contd)

  7. Chapter 23: An Overview (Contd) Verses 39-48 • In that aerial mansion he traveled to the pleasure valleys of Mount Meru, in different heavenly gardens, and by the Mānasa-sarovara Lake, enjoying with his wife for many years. What is difficult to achieve for determined men who have taken refuge of the Supreme Lord’s lotus feet? After showing his wife the globe of the universe and its different arrangements, the great yogi, Kardama Muni returned to his own hermitage. He divided himself into 9 personalities just to give pleasure to Devahuti, who was eager for sex life. He impregnated Devahuti with 9 discharges of semen. Devahuti gave birth to 9 charming daughters, fragrant with the scent of the red lotus flower. (Contd)

  8. Chapter 23: An Overview (Contd) Verses 49-57 • When she saw her husband about to leave home, Devahuti requested Kardama to give her the gift of fearlessness, lamenting that • they wasted so much time in sense gratification, • and that she obtained Kardama’s association, which gives liberation from material bondage, but • she did not seek such liberation.

  9. Discussion Points PeA • General principles from the ideal example of the husband & wife relationship between Devahuti and Kardama Muni (1-8). • Duty of a husband to liquidate his debt to his wife (52). • Devahuti’s lamentation(Group discussion topic; 54-57). AMI • Sexual appetite of a woman is 9x that of a man (44).

  10. General principles from the ideal example of the husband & wife relationship between Devahuti and Kardama Muni (PeA; 1-8) • The reciprocation of service and love. • The wife must respect, be submissive, remain faithful, and render selfless service like an intimate friend, while recognizing that the husband is always superior in position. (Contd)

  11. General principles…(Contd) • The wife should not be proud of her parental position and must be prepared to follow the principles of the husband—must adapt herself according to his mentality. • By serving her devotee husband, Kardama Muni, Devahuti shared in his achievements in getting the grace of the Lord—abhaya, or fearlessness. • The husband, on his part, should be a great devotee. • The sexual union between a great devotee husband and a chaste, or faithful wife yield KC progeny.

  12. Sexual appetite of a woman is 9x than that of a man (AMI; 44) • Sex life was being discussed among the sages (Maitreya Muni and Vidura Mahatma) at the holy place, Hardvar. Why? • Sex life according to Vedic injunction • “…sexual appetite of a woman is 9x than that of a man. Otherwise, Kardama Muni would have had no reason to expand himself into nine. • Women, however, should not interpret this statement to rationalize her sexual life. • Great difference between Devahuti and Diti.

  13. Duty of a husband to liquidate his debt to his wife (PeA; 52) • A husband being superior to his subordinate wife cannot accept her sincere service without rewarding her with a worthy son (a first class devotee) who can give relief from her material anxieties—this relief is in the form of spiritual instruction rather than mundane material comforts. • This is the reciprocation of love and duty.

  14. Devahuti’s lamentation(Group discussion topic; PeA; 54-57) • “Devahuti laments because her husband had given her the best kind of material enjoyment, but she did not know that he was so advanced in spiritual realization.” • “…even if one is not advanced in knowledge, simply by association with a great saintly person one can immediately make considerable advancement in spiritual life.” • “Now she understood this, and she wanted to utilize the advantage of the association of her great husband.” (Contd)

  15. Devahuti’s lamentation (Contd) • Devahuti was born as the daughter of an emperor—sufficiently educated and cultured, and at last she got Kardama Muni, a saintly person and a great yogi, as her husband. • And yet, she did not seek liberation from material entanglement—powerful influence of Krsna’s illusory potency, māyā. • One should be intelligent enough to know how to utilize material assets for the purpose of spiritual realization. • Better late than never! Consider morning the moment one wake up! • I was 40 years old when I woke up to KC—this is the reason for my sense of urgency to work faster and swifter! My own lamentation is that why did I not wake up sooner in my life?

More Related