Canto 3: The Status Quo
SB3.23

Canto 3 · Chapter 23 · 57 verses · 1 story

Devahūti’s Lamentation

Devahūti serves Kardama, shares his extraordinary household life, and asks who will comfort her after his departure.

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Themes of SB 3.23Dharma4Vairāgya4Bhakti3Vātsalya3from its story phase
Connected storiesSaubhari MuniDhṛtarāṣṭra leaves homeThe gopīs and the rāsa danceŚiśupāla
Who is speakingSūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitMaitreya Ṛṣi → ViduraEvery voice in this chapter ›
Turning points hereDevahūti· Service and household life

What this chapter speaks about · the ten subjects

In this chapter

Who · Devahūti, Kardama Muni

The story · After her parents left, Devahūti served Kardama constantly with great love. Kardama offered her the spiritual blessings he had gained through austerity, meditation, and Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and created a magnificent aerial mansion to please her. Adorned and attended by maids, she witnessed his yogic power as they traveled through various planets. Their family included nine daughters, but Devahūti looked ahead to the daughters’ marriages and Kardama’s renunciation. She asked who would give her solace after he departed.

What it teaches · The spiritual blessings Kardama offered were free from fear and lamentation. Even amid extraordinary household opulence, Devahūti sought solace beyond the coming separation from her family.

SB 3.23.7SB 3.23.12SB 3.23.52Read chapter 23 ›

Beyond this chapter

Connected stories across the Bhāgavatam

Stories told in other chapters that this chapter's verses or Śrīla Prabhupāda's purports bring in, the other Bhāgavatam verses the purports quote, and stories in other cantos with the same themes. Each link shows the sentence it comes from.

Dhṛtarāṣṭra leaves home

SB 1.13 · Dhṛtarāṣṭra leaves home

What it teaches · No one in the material world can prevent the approach of time and the decline of the body. Understanding this calls one away from bodily attachment toward spiritual realization.

From Mahābhārata we learn that when Gāndhārī understood that her would-be husband, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, was blind, she immediately began to practice blindness herself.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport · SB 3.23.4-5 (Texts 4-5)
Read the story in SB 1.13

The gopīs and the rāsa dance

SB 10.20–22 · The gopīs’ flute songs and vowSB 10.29–33 · The gopīs’ search and the rāsa danceSB 10.46–47 · Uddhava witnesses Vraja’s love

What it teaches · Kṛṣṇa explains that desires fixed upon Him do not produce ordinary material desire for sense gratification. The gopīs’ attention is centered upon Him.

These signs were sometimes exhibited by the gopīs before Kṛṣṇa.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport · SB 3.23.50 (Text 50)

It is generally said that the gopīs were attached to Kṛṣṇa for sense attractions, and yet they became first-class devotees of the Lord.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport · SB 3.23.55 (Text 55)
Read the story in SB 10.20–22

Śiśupāla

SB 10.52–54 · Rukmiṇī chooses KṛṣṇaSB 10.71–75 · Jarāsandha’s defeat and the RājasūyaSB 7.1 · Parīkṣit asks about the Lord’s impartiality

What it teaches · Hearing Kṛṣṇa’s qualities can awaken firm attachment to Him. The episode also warns that pride in power and possessions leads people to offend others.

Kaṁsa, Śiśupāla, Dantavakra and other demons, however, were related to Kṛṣṇa as enemies.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport · SB 3.23.55 (Text 55)
Read the story in SB 10.52–54

Ambarīṣa Mahārāja

SB 9.4–5 · Ambarīṣa protects Durvāsā

What it teaches · A devotee finds happiness in serving Kṛṣṇa rather than in wealth or mystic achievements. Ambarīṣa’s humility and compassion extended even to the person who had offended him.

Similarly, there is a description of Durvāsā Muni, who also traveled in space.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport · SB 3.23.43 (Text 43)
Read the story in SB 9.4–5

Same themes in another canto

Both chapters carry these themes strongly in the themes map, an editorial reading of each chapter's story.

  1. Learn
  2. Live
  3. Lead
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