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with righteousness. I desire to hear thee discourse on that subject from the beginning. Thou practisest all the duties of |
righteousness with me. Thy conduct is exactly like mine, and the vows thou observest are the same that are observed by me. |
Thy puissance and energy are equal to mine, and thou hast undergone the austerest penances. The subject, when discoursed |
upon by thee, will become endued with great merit. Indeed, that discourse will then become authoritative in the world. Women, |
in especial, are the highest refuge of women. O thou of beautiful hips, among human beings that course of conduct which thou |
wilt lay down will be followed from generation to generation.[577] Half of my body is made up of half thy body. Thou art |
always engaged in doing the work of the deities, and it is thou that art the cause of the peopling of the earth, O auspicious lady, |
all the eternal duties of women are well-known to thee. Do thou, therefore, tell me in detail what are the duties of thy sex.' |
"Uma said, 'O holy one, O lord of all created things, O source of all that is past, present, and future, it is through thy grace that |
the words I am uttering are taking their rise in my mind. All these Rivers (that are of my sex), O god of gods, endued with the |
waters of all the Tirthas, are approaching thy presence for enabling thee to perform thy ablutions in them.[578] After |
consulting them I shall discourse on the topic named, in due order. That person who, though competent, is still free from |
egotism, is rightly called a Purusha.[579] As regards woman, O lord of all beings, she follows persons of her sex. By |
consulting these foremost of Rivers, they will be honoured by me. The sacred Saraswati is the foremost river of all rivers. She |
courses towards the ocean and is truly the first of all streams. Vipasa also here, and Vitasta, and Chandrabhaga, and Iravati, and |
Satadru, and the river Devika, and Kausiki, and Gomati.[580] and this celestial River who has in her all the sacred Tirthas, viz., |
the goddess Ganga, who having her rise in Heaven hath descended on the Earth and is regarded as the foremost of all streams; |
Having said this, the spouse of that god of gods, that foremost of all righteous persons, smilingly addressed all those Rivers of |
her sex. Indeed, the spouse of the great god, devoted to the performance of all duties, questioned those individuals of her sex |
about the duties of women. Verily, those foremost of rivers having Ganga for their first are all conversant with the duties of |
women.' |
"Uma said, 'The illustrious god has asked a question relating to the duties of women. I desire to answer Sankara after having |
consulted with you. I do not see any branch of knowledge on Earth or Heaven that is capable of being mastered by any unaided |
individual. Ye rivers that run towards the ocean, it is for this that I seek your opinions! It was in this way that those foremost of |
Rivers, all of whom were auspicious and highly sacred, were questioned by Siva's spouse. Then the celestial River Ganga, who |
worshipped the daughter of the prince of mountains in return, was selected for answering the question. Verily, she of sweet |
smiles is held as swelling with diverse kinds of understanding and well-conversant with the duties of women. The sacred |
goddess, capable of dispelling all fear of sin, possessed of humility in consequence of her intelligence, well acquainted with all |
duties, and enriched with an intelligence exceedingly comprehensive, sweetly smiling, uttered these, words, 'O goddess, thou |
art always devoted to the due performance of all duties. Thou hast favoured me highly by thus questioning me! O sinless one, |
thou art honoured by the entire universe, yet thou askest me that am but a river. That person who, though himself competent (to |
discourse on a topic) yet asks another, or who pays a graceful tribute to another, certainly deserves, I think, to be regarded as |
righteous-souled. Verily, such a person deserves to be called learned and wise. That person never falls into disgrace who asks |
such speakers as are endued with knowledge and science and as are well-conversant with premises and inferences. A proud |
man, even when enriched with intelligence, by speaking in the midst of an assembly otherwise (that is, by relying upon his own |
powers alone and without reference to or consultation with others), finds himself uttering only words of weak import. Thou art |
possessed of spiritual insight, Thou art the foremost of all denizens in Heaven. Thou hast taken thy rise accompanied by |
diverse kinds of excellent merit. Thou, O goddess, art fully competent to discourse on the duties of women! In this way, the |
goddess Uma was worshipped by Ganga and honoured with the ascription of many high merits. The beautiful, goddess, thus |
praised, then began to discourse upon all the duties of women in full.' |
"Uma said, 'I shall, according to the ordinance, discourse on the subject of women's duties as far as they are known to me. Do |
ye all listen with concentrated attention! The duties of women arise as created at the outset by kinsmen in the rites of wedding. |
Indeed, a woman becomes, in the presence of the nuptial fire, the associate of her lord in the performance of all righteous |
deeds.[581] Possessed of a good disposition, endued with sweet speech, sweet conduct, and sweet features, and always looking |
at the face of her husband and deriving as much joy from it as she does from looking at the face of her child, that chaste woman |
who regulates her acts by observing the prescribed restraints, comes to be regarded as truly righteous in her conduct. Listening |
(with reverence) to the duties of wedded life (as expounded in the scriptures), and accomplishing all those auspicious, duties, |
that woman who regards righteousness as the foremost of all objects of pursuit, who observes the same vows as those that are |
observed by her husband, who adorned with chastity, looks upon her spouse as a god, who waits upon and serves him as if he |
is a god, who surrenders her own will completely to that of her lord, who is cheerful, who observes excellent vows, who is |
endued with good features, and whose heart is completely devoted to her husband so much that she never thinks even of any |
other man, is regarded as truly righteous in conduct. That wife who, even when addressed harshly and looked upon with angry |
eyes by her lord, presents a cheerful aspect to him, is said to be truly devoted to her husband. She who does not cast her eyes |
upon the Moon or the Sun or a tree that has a masculine name, who is adored by her husband and who is possessed of beautiful |
features, is regarded as truly righteous. That woman who treats her husband with the affection which she shows towards her |
child, even when he (the husband) happens to be poor or diseased or weak or worn out with the toil of travelling, is regarded as |
truly righteous in her conduct. That woman who is endued with self-control, who has given birth to children, who serves her |
husband with devotion, and whose whole heart is devoted to him, is regarded as truly righteous in her conduct. That woman |
who waits upon and serves her lord with a cheerful heart, who is always cheerful of heart, and who is possessed of humility, is |
regarded as truly righteous in her conduct. That woman who always supports her kinsmen and relatives by giving them food, |
and whose relish in gratifying her desires or for articles of enjoyment, or for the affluence of which she is possessed, or for the |
happiness with which she is surrounded, falls short of her relish for her husband, is regarded as truly righteous in her conduct. |
That woman who always takes a pleasure in rising at early down, who is devoted to the discharge of all household duties, who |
always keeps her house clean, who rubs her house daily with cowdung, who always attends to the domestic fire (for pouring |
libations upon it), who never neglects to make offerings of flowers and other articles to the deities, who with her husband |
gratifies the deities and guests and all servants and dependants of the family with that share of food which is theirs by the |
ordinances, and who always takes, according to the ordinance, for herself, what food remains in the house after the needs have |
been met of gods and guests and servants, and who gratifies all people who come in contact with her family and feed them to |
their fill, succeeds in acquiring great merit. That woman who is endued with accomplishments, who gratifies the feet of her |
father-in-law and mother-in-law, and who is always devoted to her father and mother, is regarded as possessed of ascetic |
wealth. That woman who supports with food Brahmanas that are weak and helpless, that are distressed or blind or destitute, |
comes to be regarded as entitled to share the merit of her husband. That woman who always observes, with a light heart vows |
that are difficult of observance, whose heart is devoted to her lord, and who always seeks good of her lord, is regarded as |
entitled to share the merits of her husband. Devotion to her lord is woman's merit; it is her penance; it is her eternal Heaven. |
Merit, penances, and Heaven become hers who looks upon her husband as her all in all, and who, endued with chastity, seeks |
to devote herself to her lord in all things. The husband is the god which women have. The husband is their friend, The husband |
is their high refuge. Women have no refuge that can compare with their husbands, and no god that can compare with him. The |
husband's grace and Heaven, are equal in the estimation of a woman; or, if unequal, the inequality is very trivial. O Maheswara, |
I do not desire Heaven itself if thou are not satisfied with me. If the husband that is poor, or diseased or distressed or fallen |
among foes, or afflicted by a Brahmana's curse, were to command the wife to accomplish anything that is improper or |
unrighteous or that may lead to destruction of life itself, the wife should, without any hesitation, accomplish it, guided by the |
code whose propriety is sanctioned by the law of Distress. I have thus, O god, expounded, at thy command, what the duties of |
women are, Verily, that woman who conducts herself in this way becomes entitled to a share of the merits won by her |
husband,' |
"Narada continued, 'Thus addressed, the great god applauded the daughter of the prince of mountains and then dismissed all |
persons that had assembled there, together with all his own attendants. The diverse tribes of ghostly beings, as also all the |
embodied Rivers, and the Gandharvas and Apsaras, all bowed their heads unto Mahadeva and departed for returning to the |
places whence they had come." |
SECTION CXLVII |
"The Rishis said, 'O wielder of Pinaka, O tearer of the eyes of Bhaga, O thou that art worshipped by all the universe, we desire |
to hear the glory of Vasudeva.' |
"Maheswara said, 'Hari is superior to the Grandsire himself. He is the Eternal Purusha. Otherwise called Krishna, he is endued |
with the splendour of gold, and shines with effulgence like a second sun. Possessed of ten arms, he is endued with great energy, |
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