Verse 3.9.8

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 3.9.8:

শ্রী-লক্ষ্মীর অংশ—যত বৈষ্ণব-গৃহিণীকি বিচিত্র রন্ধন করেন নাহি জানি ॥ ৮ ॥

श्री-लक्ष्मीर अंश—यत वैष्णव-गृहिणीकि विचित्र रन्धन करेन नाहि जानि ॥ ८ ॥

śrī-lakṣmīra aṃśa—yata vaiṣṇava-gṛhiṇīki vicitra randhana karena nāhi jāni || 8 ||

sri-laksmira amsa—yata vaisnava-grhiniki vicitra randhana karena nahi jani (8)

English translation:

(8) All the wives of the Vaiṣṇavas were expansions of Lakṣmī, the goddess of fortune. Therefore their cooking was so wonderful I cannot describe it.

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

The wives of Vaiṣṇavas are expansions of Śrī Lakṣmī. Although the jīva

servants and maidservants of the Supreme Lord are separated expansions of the Lord’s energy, they are actually transformations of the marginal energy and are therefore expansions of Śakti. When the living entities lack knowledge of their constitutional position, they become illusioned about their actual identity, but the wives of Vaiṣṇavas always remain engaged in the service of Hari on the liberated platform rather than forgetting their actual identity.