Hare Krsna,
The qualities and characters of Mother Devahuti should be inspiration for all practitioners of bhakti yoga who are sincerely trying to attain the platform of pure love of Godhead. In Bhagavad Gita 13.8-12, Lord Krsna lists twenty qualities that He declares is knowledge. Everything besides them is ignorance.
“Humility; pridelessness; nonviolence; tolerance; simplicity; approaching a bona fide spiritual master; cleanliness; steadiness; self-control; renunciation of the objects of sense gratification; absence of false ego; the perception of the evil of birth, death, old age and disease; detachment; freedom from entanglement with children, wife, home and the rest; even-mindedness amid pleasant and unpleasant events; constant and unalloyed devotion to Me; aspiring to live in a solitary place; detachment from the general mass of people; accepting the importance of self-realization; and philosophical search for the Absolute Truth – all these I declare to be knowledge, and besides this whatever there may be is ignorance.”
If we analyze deeply, we see that Mother Devahuti possessed all these qualities. She was humble, tolerant, simple, self-controlled, devoid of any pride, lust, envy, greed, sinful activities, and vanity. She was detached from the general mass of people, even-minded amid pleasant and unpleasant event, renounced from objects of sense-gratification, devoid of false ego. Most importantly, she realized the importance of self-realization, knowledge of the Absolute Truth, and values of serving a spiritual master or a superior authority like her husband Kardama Muni.
Srila Prabhupada explains (in purport to the above verse) that “all the good qualities of knowledge develop in one who has attained the stage of devotional service. The principle of accepting a spiritual master, as mentioned in the eighth verse, is essential. Even for one who takes to devotional service, it is most important. Transcendental life begins when one accepts a bona fide spiritual master. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, clearly states here that this process of knowledge is the actual path. Anything speculated beyond this is nonsense.”
The most important quality that I can inspiration from Mother Devahuti is her attitude of sincere service. Mother Devahuti served her husband the same way one should serve one’s spiritual master. Devahūti was so faithful to her husband that not only did she serve him with great devotion, service and respect, but she did not even care for her own health. That is called selfless service.
“Devahūti served her husband with intimacy and great respect, with control of the senses, with love and with sweet words. Working sanely and diligently, she pleased her very powerful husband, giving up all lust, pride, envy, greed, sinful activities and vanity. The daughter of Manu, who was fully devoted to her husband, looked upon him as greater even than providence. Thus she expected great blessings from him. Having served him for a long time, she grew weak and emaciated due to her religious observances. Seeing her condition, Kardama, the foremost of celestial sages, was overcome with compassion and spoke to her in a voice choked with great love.” (SB 3.23.1-5)
Some people with strong feminist mindset may revolt at some of Srila Prabhupada’s statements such as “the wife must render service just like an intimate friend, and at the same time she must understand that the husband is superior in position, and thus she must offer him all respect…Even if there is some wrong on the part of the husband, the wife must tolerate it.”
My counter-argument is “Look at the ultimate result Devahuti obtained at the end!” What did she attain after a lifetime of service to her husband? Pure love of Godhead and the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself as her son (Lord Kapiladeva). We should judge a tree by its fruits. Instead of misrepresenting (and revolting at) Srila Prabhupada’s statements, we should see what he is trying to teach us – that by serving one’s superiors, we can achieve all spiritual perfection.
“Love of Kṛṣṇa is the highest perfection of bhagavat-prasāda, or divine mercy… By the grace of Kardama Muni, Devahūti experienced actual realization simply by serving. We get a similar example in the life of Nārada Muni… Kardama Muni, who offered her the best gift which can be bestowed in human life: the grace of the Lord, or love of God. This grace of the Lord was achieved by Devahūti by the good will and satisfaction of her husband. She served her husband, who was a great devotee and saintly person, with great sincerity, love, affection and service, and Kardama Muni was satisfied. He willingly gave love of God, and he recommended that she accept it and enjoy it because he had already achieved it.” (SB 3.23.7-8 Purport)
It is a fact that just by satisfying the spiritual master, we can receive all blessings, mercy, and grace of the Lord (yasya prasadad bhagavata prasadah). One cannot attain love of Godhead simply by chanting the Holy Name of the Lord or reading the scriptures unless these activities are combined with service to a pure Vaisnava. No one can attain pure love of Krsna without serving the pure devotees of the Lord. The most amazing thing is that we can attain love of Krsna in one lifetime just by this selfless service attitude to the devotees of the Lord. Srila Prabhupada quotes the example of Sri Narada Muni who became the great personality Nārada by menially serving the maha-bhagavatas.
Devahuti did not have to perform intense austerities, sacrifices, meditation or cultivate deep knowledge of the Vedas. Simply by serving her husband (who she treated as her spiritual master) sincerely, faithfully, and lovingly, she attained all perfection.
I pray to the Lord to bless me with such an attitude and mood of selfless service as Mother Devahuti’s. What cannot be achieved in many lifetimes can be attained in just one lifetime by selfless service to the Vaisnavas, one’s spiritual master, and one’s superiors like a husband or wife (if such a person is a pure devotee of the Lord).
All the so-called bodily troubles that Devahuti went through is actually a small price to pay to attain the ultimate wealth – the grace of the Lord, love of God (premā pumartho mahān). To achieve love of Godhead is the highest perfection of life. This is easily obtained by rendering service to the pure Vaisnavas.
“By serving her devotee husband, Kardama Muni, Devahūti shared in his achievements. Similarly, a sincere disciple, simply by serving a bona fide spiritual master, can achieve all the mercy of the Lord and the spiritual master simultaneously.” (SB 3.22.7 P)
I offer my thousands of respectful obeisances to Mother Devahuti with a prayer that she bestows upon us unalloyed devotional service to the pure devotees of the Lord. gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ. I identify Myself only as the servant of the servant of the servant of the lotus feet of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the maintainer of the gopīs. (Padyāvalī 74)
Mother Devahuti is truly a great inspiration to me.
All glories to Mother Devahuti!
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Krsna Katha 