Shloka 29
Varṇāśrama-Dharma and the Thirty Qualities of a Human Being
या पतिं हरिभावेन भजेत् श्रीरिव तत्परा । हर्यात्मना हरेर्लोके पत्या श्रीरिव मोदते ॥ २९ ॥
yā patiṁ hari-bhāvena bhajet śrīr iva tat-parā hary-ātmanā harer loke patyā śrīr iva modate
जी स्त्री लक्ष्मीदेवीप्रमाणे पूर्ण परायण होऊन हरिभावाने पतीची सेवा करते, ती भक्त पतीसह हरीच्या लोकात वैकुंठात जाऊन लक्ष्मीप्रमाणे आनंदाने वास करते।
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:
FAQs
This verse teaches that a wife who serves her husband with haribhāva—devotion centered on Hari, like Lakṣmī-devī—attains joy in Hari’s realm together with her husband.
He uses Lakṣmī as the exemplar of perfect devotion and fidelity to the Supreme Lord, illustrating how dedicated service offered in a Hari-centered mood becomes spiritually elevating.
By making family duties devotional—cultivating respect, responsibility, and service as an offering to Hari—so relationships become a path of bhakti rather than mere social convention.