Part
4 - Chapter 2
ON
THE MANNER OF LIVING OF A VIRTUOUS WOMAN,
AND OF HER BEHAVIOUR DURING THE ABSENCE OF
HER HUSBAND
A
VIRTUOUS woman, who has affection for her
husband, should act in conformity with his
wishes as if he were a divine being, and
with his consent should take upon herself
the whole care of his family. She should
keep the whole house well cleaned, and
arrange flowers of various kinds in
different parts of it, and make the floor
smooth and polished so as to give the whole
a neat and becoming appearance. She should
surround the house with a garden, and place
ready in it all the materials required for
the morning, noon and evening sacrifices.
Moreover she should herself revere the
sanctuary of the Household Gods, for, says
Gonardiya, `nothing so much attracts the
heart of a householder to his wife as a
careful observance of the things mentioned
above'.
Towards
the parents, relations, friends, sisters,
and servants of her husband she should
behave as they deserve. In the garden she
should plant beds of green vegetables,
bunches of the sugar cane, and clumps of the
fig tree, the mustard plant, the parsley
plant, the fennel plant, and the
xanthochymus pictorius. Clusters of various
flowers such as the trapa bispinosa, the
jasmine, the jasminum grandiflorum, the
yellow amaranth, the wild jasmine, the
tabernamontana coronaria, the nadyaworta,
the china rose and others, should likewise
be planted, together with the fragrant grass
andropogon schaenanthus, and the fragrant
root of the plant andropogon miricatus. She
should also have seats and arbours made in
the garden, in the middle of which a well,
tank, or pool should be dug.
The
wife should always avoid the company of
female beggars, female Buddhist mendicants,
unchaste and roguish women, female fortune
tellers and witches. As regards meals she
should always consider what her husband
likes and dislikes and what things are good
for him, and what are injurious to him. When
she hears the sounds of his footsteps coming
home she should at once get up and be ready
to do whatever he may command her, and
either order her female servant to wash his
feet, or wash them herself. When going
anywhere with her husband, she should put on
her ornaments, and without his consent she
should not either give or accept
invitations, or attend marriages and
sacrifices, or sit in the company of female
friends, or visit the temples of the Gods.
And if she wants to engage in any kind of
games or sports, she should not do it
against his will. In the same way she should
always sit down after him, and get up before
him, and should never awaken him when he is
asleep. The kitchen should be situated in a
quiet and retired place, so as not to be
accessible to strangers, and should always
look clean.
In
the event of any misconduct on the part of
her husband, she should not blame him
excessively, though she be a little
displeased. She should not use abusive
language towards him, but rebuke him with
conciliatory words, whether he be in the
company of friends or alone. Moreover, she
should not be a scold, for, says Gonardiya,
`there is no cause of dislike on the part of
a husband so great as this characteristic in
a wife'. Lastly she should avoid bad
expressions, sulky looks, speaking aside,
standing in the doorway, and looking at
passers-by, conversing in the pleasure
groves, and remaining in a lonely place for
a long time; and finally she should always
keep her body, her teeth, her hair and
everything belonging to her tidy, sweet, and
clean.
When
the wife wants to approach her husband in
private her dress should consist of many
ornaments, various kinds of flowers, and a
cloth decorated with different colours, and
some sweet-smelling ointments or unguents.
But her everyday dress should be composed of
a thin, close-textured cloth, a few
ornaments and flowers, and a little scent,
not too much. She should also observe the
fasts and vows of her husband, and when he
tries to prevent her doing this, she should
persuade him to let her do it.
At
appropriate times of the year, and when they
happen to be cheap, she should buy earth,
bamboos, firewood, skins, and iron pots, as
also salt and oil. Fragrant substances,
vessels made of the fruit of the plant
wrightea antidysenterica, or oval leaved
wrightea, medicines, and other things which
are always wanted, should be obtained when
required and kept in a secret place of the
house.
..
Swami Veet Chintan T'Zorba-Krsna
Jyotish
Shastracharya
& Vedic Astrologer of India
Main
Menu