Devanagari
भर्तु: शुश्रूषणं स्त्रीणां परो धर्मो ह्यमायया ।
तद्बन्धूनां च कल्याण: प्रजानां चानुपोषणम् ॥ २४ ॥
Verse text
bhartuḥ śuśrūṣaṇaṁ strīṇāṁ
paro dharmo hy amāyayā
tad-bandhūnāṁ ca kalyāṇaḥ
prajānāṁ cānupoṣaṇam
Synonyms
bhartuḥ
—
of one’s husband
;
śuśrūṣaṇam
—
faithful service
;
strīṇām
—
for women
;
paraḥ
—
the highest
;
dharmaḥ
—
religious duty
;
hi
—
indeed
;
amāyayā
—
without duplicity
;
tat
—
bandhūnām — to the relatives of their husbands
;
ca
—
and
;
kalyāṇaḥ
—
doing good
;
prajānām
—
of their offspring
;
ca
—
and
;
anupoṣaṇam
—
the care .
Translation
The highest religious duty for a woman is to sincerely serve her husband, behave well toward her husband’s family and take good care of her children.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The highest religious duty for a woman is to sincerely serve her husband, behave well toward her husband's family and take good care of her children.
KB 10.29.24
“Another thing I must explain to you is that for a chaste woman, service to the husband without duplicity is the best religious principle. Not only should a woman be faithful and chaste to her husband, but she should also be affectionate to the friends of her husband, obedient to the father and mother of her husband, and affectionate to the younger brothers of her husband. And most importantly, a woman must take care of her children.”
Purport
Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī astutely points out here that the
gopīs’
real, eternal husband is Lord Kṛṣṇa, not their so-called husbands at home, who falsely considered the
gopīs
their property. Thus a strict interpretation of the word
amāyayā,
“without illusion,” reveals that the supreme religious duty for the
gopīs
is to serve Śrī Kṛṣṇa, their real lover.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Expecting the objection from the gopis "But we have approached you as lovers" Krsna speaks. "But still you should return to Vraja."
In answer the gopis say, "Again and again you say this, but the object of affection should never reject those who are showing their affection. "
Krsna answers, "That is true, you are full of affection, but I must speak in order to protect religious principles. Therefore I advise you according to the scriptures. Please listen. Serving the husband, with complete steadiness, is the supreme duty (para dharma). You should also serve the husband’s parents."
The other meaning is as follows. "For you women of Vraja (strinam) serving the husband is not your duty, it is others duty (para dharma.) For the scriptures say, "There are five branches of irreligion, appropriately known as irreligion [vidharma], religious principles for which one is unfit [para-dharma], pretentious religion [ābhāsa], analogical religion [upadharma] and cheating religion [chala-dharma]. One who is aware of real religious life must abandon these five as irreligious. Sb.7.15.12" Your real duty is to serve me, since I am Visnu and you are devotees of Visnu. Anything else is not your duty. It is a rule to give up other duties and to serve me. "The best activity is to give up all other dharmas and serve me. (Dharman samtyajya vah sarvan mam bhaje sa ca sattma) (11.11.32)"
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
“Since we have affection for you, we should serve you.” Fearing such a request, Kṛṣṇa frightens them with rules of dharma in three verses. It is dharma to serve your husbands. This is the correct (paraḥ) dharma since we and others cannot take shelter of any other dharma. “We are already serving them properly.” Do so sincerely (amāyayā). In serving me, the Supreme Lord, there will be deceit. This will produce impurity. Serving your husbands is auspicious for chaste women. You should do it. He encourages them with deception. Actually he is joking since that is not the highest conduct of dharma. Yamarāja, king of dharma says:
etāvān eva loke 'smin puṁsāṁ dharmaḥ paraḥ smṛtaḥ
bhakti-yogo bhagavati tan-nāma-grahaṇādibhiḥ
Pure bhakti to the Supreme Lord, beginning with the chanting of the holy name of the Lord, is the real dharma, the supreme object for the human living in this world. SB 6.3.23
Another meaning is as follows. Coming to me is proper, not only because you have affection for me, but also because it is the highest dharma. The highest dharma is serving the husband based on accepting him with true love, not serving a husband based on force. This creates auspiciousness for friends. Bhīṣma, knower of dharma, rejected Ambā as his wife since she had given herself mentally to another man previously. According to dharma he could not become her husband. The gopīs were married to husbands though they had no affection for them. I am their true husband since they have real affection for me. They should serve me. Your hearts since childhood are my witness. This meaning alone will be later established.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
Serving is dharma and if it is done purely or according to dharma it is excellent (para). Hi means certainly. One should serve relatives, mothers in lawa and fathers in law. After that (anu) one should take care of others—children, servants and sons. That is also dharma. If it is done purely, it is excellent (para). The two words ca indicate that the service and take care are equally important. O chaste women (kalyāṇyaḥ)! You should do this. Or O women who can see what is auspicious! You should do this. He incites them with a cheating intention.
Or it is good that you have come, but I am to be obtained only by the highest dharma and not otherwise. Making them understand by a gesture of teaching them, he then recites this verse. It is actually a joke, said with anger, since what is stated is not the highest dharma.
There is another meaning, also a joke. The Lord is attained by bhakti with śravaṇa etc. culminating in prema, which makes artha, dharma, kāma and mokṣa insignificant. He cannot be attained by serving husbands etc. Thus the statement about the highest dharma in the verse is a joke. Sarva-dharmān parityajya: give up all dharmas. (BG 18.66)
There is another meaning. The highest dharma is not only serving the husband but also his friends like me. Or o highest devotees (kalyāṇyaḥ)! That is the highest dharma for other, materialistic women, not for you, the best of all women. Those who practice bhakti have no respect for svadharma. Tyaktvā svadharmaṁ caraṇāmbujaṁ hareḥ: giving up one’s dharma for worship of the lotus feet of the Lord is without fault. (SB 1.5.17) This is also described in many places in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa, in the discussion of the qualities of the devotee.
Or I am the master of the universe (bhartuḥ). Since I am Paramātmā I am really the bhartṛ or maintainer. Service to me is the highest dharma. Or since I protect the cowherds from rain, I am the maintainer of all persons here. The highest dharma is serving me (bhartuḥ). You should serve also my friends like Balarāma. Even nourishing my servants (prajānām) like Śrīdhāmā or the servants of Nanda or all devotees, is the highest dharma. Thus you should serve me purely.
Or it is proper that you have come here for the rasa of the Lord. (previous verse) Many words follow showing how it is proper. Service to me is the highest dharma etc. This expresses his form of power.
Or hear about the essence of all dharmas. Then in three verses he speaks in a joking way about duty to husbands etc. For you women of Vraja serving husbands is adharma or sin. Doing it purely is the greatest sin, para adharma. If devotees give up their dharma of hearing and chanting and take to serving husbands, it is a great anartha. Thus Gītā says: svadharme nidhanaṁ śreyaḥ paradharmo bhayāvaḥ: attaining death in the course one’s duties is beneficial (leading to heaven) whereas performing others’ duties is full of danger (leading to hell). (BG 3.35)
Or serving husbands with cheating to me (a-māyayā), giving up bhakti to me, is adharma. All karmas performd without bhakti are useless and give opposite results.
Kiṁ vedaiḥ kim u śāstraiḥ vā kiṁ vā tīrtha-niṣevaṇaiḥ
Visṇu bhakti vihīnānāṁ kiṁ tapobhiḥ kim adhvaraiḥ
With devotion to the lord what is the use of the vedas, scriptures, serving holy places, austerities or sacrifices? Bṛhad-nāradīya Purāṇa
Dharmo bhavaty adharmo pi krṭo bhaktais tavācyuta
Pāpaṁ bhavati dharmo pi tavābhaktaiḥ kṛto hare
Adharma becomes dharma when performed by your devotees, O acyuta. Dharma becomes sin when performed by non-devotees. Skanda Purāṇa, Revā-khaṇḍa
This is also clear in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa in the section glorifying devotees.