FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.11.29

या पतिं हरिभावेन भजेत् श्रीरिव तत्परा । हर्यात्मना हरेर्लोके पत्या श्रीरिव मोदते ॥ २९ ॥
yā patiṁ hari-bhāvena
[yaa patim hari-bhaavena]
bhajet śrīr iva tat-parā
[bhajet shreer iva tat-paraa]
hary-ātmanā harer loke
[hary-aatmanaa harer loke]
patyā śrīr iva modate
[patyaa shreer iva modate]
yā — any woman who patim — her husband hari-bhāvena — mentally accepting him as equal to Hari, the Supreme Personality of Godhead bhajet — worships or renders service to śrīḥ iva — exactly like the goddess of fortune tat-parā — being devoted hari-ātmanā — completely absorbed in thoughts of Hari hareḥ loke — in the spiritual world, the Vaikuṇṭha planets patyā — with her husband śrīḥ iva — exactly like the goddess of fortune modate — enjoys spiritual, eternal life.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
yā patiṁ hari-bhāvena
yā
any woman who
patim
her husband
hari-bhāvena
mentally accepting him as equal to Hari, the Supreme Personality of Godhead
bhajet
worships or renders service to
bhajet śrīr iva tat-parā
śrīḥ iva
exactly like the goddess of fortune
tat-parā
being devoted
hary-ātmanā harer loke
hari-ātmanā
completely absorbed in thoughts of Hari
hareḥ loke
in the spiritual world, the Vaikuṇṭha planets
patyā śrīr iva modate
patyā
with her husband
śrīḥ iva
exactly like the goddess of fortune
modate
enjoys spiritual, eternal life.
The woman who engages in the service of her husband, following strictly in the footsteps of the goddess of fortune, surely returns home, back to Godhead, with her devotee husband, and lives very happily in the Vaikuṇṭha planets.

The faithfulness of the goddess of fortune is the ideal for a chaste woman. The Brahma-saṁhitā (5.29) says, lakṣmī-sahasra-śata-sambhrama-sevyamānam. In the Vaikuṇṭha planets, Lord Viṣṇu is worshiped by many, many thousands of goddesses of fortune, and in Goloka Vṛndāvana, Lord Kṛṣṇa is worshiped by many, many thousands of gopīs, all of whom are goddesses of fortune. A woman should serve her husband as faithfully as the goddess of fortune. A man should be an ideal servant of the Lord, and a woman should be an ideal wife like the goddess of fortune. Then both husband and wife will be so faithful and strong that by acting together they will return home, back to Godhead, without a doubt. In this regard, Śrīla Madhvācārya gives this opinion:

harir asmin sthita iti strīṇāṁ bhartari bhāvanā śiṣyāṇāṁ ca gurau nityaṁ śūdrāṇāṁ brāhmaṇādiṣu bhṛtyānāṁ svāmini tathā hari-bhāva udīritaḥ

A woman should think of her husband as the Supreme Lord. Similarly, a disciple should think of the spiritual master as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, a śūdra should think of a brāhmaṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and a servant should think of his master as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In this way, all of them will automatically become devotees of the Lord. In other words, by thinking this way, all of them will become Kṛṣṇa conscious.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
The woman, who, like Lakṣmī, engages in the service of her husband, by thinking of her husband as the Lord, enjoys in Vaikuṇṭha with her devotee husband like Lakṣmī. She enjoys with her husband who has the Lord as his soul.
A wife who serves her husband following Lakṣmī's footsteps returns home to Godhead with him and lives happily in Vaikuṇṭha. Real partnership in devotion is reciprocal and ultimately liberating. Marriage can be a vehicle for both partners' return.
Reflection Questions
  • How does your closest relationship participate in your spiritual return — or hinder it?
  • What small shared devotion could make the partnership a liberating one?
📝 My note

← Read full Chapter 11