Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.10.30

etāḥ paraḿ strītvam apāstapeśalaḿ

nirasta-śaucaḿ bata sādhu kurvate

yāsāḿ gṛhāt puṣkara-locanaḥ patir

na jātv apaity āhṛtibhir hṛdi spṛśan

SYNONYMS

etāḥ — all these women; param — highest; strītvam — womanhood; apāstapeśalam — without individuality; nirasta — without; śaucam — purity; bata sādhu — auspiciously glorified; kurvate — do they make; yāsām — from whose; gṛhāt — homes; puṣkara-locanaḥ — the lotus-eyed; patiḥ — husband; na jātu — never at any time; apaiti — goes away; āhṛtibhiḥ — by presentation; hṛdi — in the heart; spṛśan — endeared.

TRANSLATION

All these women auspiciously glorified their lives despite their being without individuality and without purity. Their husband, the lotus-eyed Personality of Godhead, never left them alone at home. He always pleased their hearts by making valuable presentations.

PURPORT

The devotees of the Lord are purified souls. As soon as the devotees surrender unto the lotus feet of the Lord sincerely, the Lord accepts them, and thus the devotees at once become free from all material contaminations. Such devotees are above the three modes of material nature. There is no bodily disqualification of a devotee, just as there is no qualitative difference between the Ganges water and the filthy drain water when they are amalgamated. Women, merchants and laborers are not very intelligent, and thus it is very difficult for them to understand the science of God or to be engaged in the devotional service of the Lord. They are more materialistic, and less than them are the Kirātas, Hūṇas, Āndhras, Pulindas, Pulkaśas, Ābhīras, Kańkas, Yavanas, Khasas, etc., but all of them can be delivered if they are properly engaged in the devotional service of the Lord. By engagement in the service of the Lord, the designative disqualifications are removed, and as pure souls they become eligible to enter into the kingdom of God.

The fallen girls under the clutches of Bhaumāsura sincerely prayed to Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa for their deliverance, and their sincerity of purpose made them at once pure by virtue of devotion. The Lord therefore accepted them as His wives, and thus their lives became glorified. Such auspicious glorification was still more glorified when the Lord played with them as the most devoted husband.

The Lord used to live with His 16,108 wives constantly. He expanded Himself into 16,108 plenary portions, and each and every one of them was the Lord Himself without deviation from the Original Personality. The Śruti-mantra affirms that the Lord can expand Himself into many. As husband of so many wives, He pleased them all with presentations, even at a costly endeavor. He brought the pārijāta plant from heaven and implanted it at the palace of Satyabhāmā, one of the principal queens. If, therefore, anyone desires the Lord to become one's husband, the Lord fulfills such desires in full.