CHAPTER I.

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 even 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 gasminum 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

buddish 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 every-day 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. The seeds of the radish, the

potato, the common beet, the Indian wormwood, the mangoe, the cucumber,

the egg plant, the kushmanda, the pumpkin gourd, the surana, the

bignonia indica, the sandal wood, the premna spinosa, the garlic plant,

the onion, and other vegetables, should be bought and sown at the proper

seasons.

The wife, moreover, should not tell to strangers the amount of her

wealth, nor the secrets which her husband has confided to her. She

should surpass all the women of her own rank in life in her cleverness,

her appearance, her knowledge of cookery, her pride, and her manner of

serving her husband. The expenditure of the year should be regulated by

the profits. The milk that remains after the meals should be turned into

ghee or clarified butter. Oil and sugar should be prepared at home;

spinning and weaving should also be done there; and a store of ropes and

cords, and barks of trees for twisting into ropes should be kept. She

should also attend to the pounding and cleaning of rice, using its small

grain and chaff in some way or other. She should pay the salaries of the

servants, look after the tilling of the fields, and keeping of the

flocks and herds, superintend the making of vehicles, and take care of

the rams, cocks, quails, parrots, starlings, cuckoos, peacocks, monkeys,

and deer; and finally adjust the income and expenditure of the day. The

worn-out clothes should be given to those servants who have done good

work, in order to show them that their services have been appreciated,

or they may be applied to some other use. The vessels in which wine is

prepared, as well as those in which it is kept, should be carefully

looked after, and put away at the proper time. All sales and purchases

should also be well attended to. The friends of her husband she should

welcome by presenting them with flowers, ointment, incense, betel

leaves, and betel nut. Her father-in-law and mother-in law she should

treat as they deserve, always remaining dependant on their will, never

contradicting them, speaking to them in few and not harsh words, not

laughing loudly in their presence, and acting with their friends and

enemies as with her own. In addition to the above she should not be

vain, or too much taken up with her enjoyments. She should be liberal

towards her servants, and reward them on holidays and festivals; and not

give away anything without first making it known to her husband.

Thus ends the manner of living of a virtuous woman.

During the absence of her husband on a journey the virtuous woman should

wear only her auspicious ornaments, and observe the fasts in honour of

the Gods. While anxious to hear the news of her husband, she should

still look after her household affairs. She should sleep near the elder

women of the house, and make herself agreeable to them. She should look

after and keep in repair the things that are liked by her husband, and

continue the works that have been begun by him. To the abode of her

relations she should not go except on occasions of joy and sorrow, and

then she should go in her usual travelling dress, accompanied by her

husband's servants, and not remain there for a long time. The fasts and

feasts should be observed with the consent of the elders of the house.

The resources should be increased by making purchases and sales

according to the practice of the merchants, and by means of honest

servants, superintended by herself. The income should be increased, and

the expenditure diminished as much as possible. And when her husband

returns from his journey, she should receive him at first in her

ordinary clothes, so that he may know in what way she has lived during

his absence, and should bring to him some presents, as also materials

for the worship of the Deity.

Thus ends the part relating to the behaviour of a wife during the

absence of her husband on a journey.

There are also some verses on the subject as follows.

"The wife, whether she be a woman of noble family, or a virgin widow[53]

re-married, or a concubine, should lead a chaste life, devoted to her

husband, and doing every thing for his welfare. Women acting thus,

acquire Dharma, Artha, and Kama, obtain a high position, and generally

keep their husbands devoted to them."

FOOTNOTE:

[Footnote 53: This probably refers to a girl married in her infancy, or

when very young, and whose husband had died before she arrived at the

age of puberty. Infant marriages are still the common custom of the

Hindoos.]