"'"Narada said, 'Having said these words, the puissant Mahadeva himself
became desirous of hearing (instead of talking), and with that view he
questioned his dear spouse who was seated by his side and she was fully
inclined to act up to his desire.'
"'"'Mahadeva said, "Thou, O goddess, art conversant with what is Supreme
and what is not.[576] Thou art acquainted with all duties, O thou that
lovest to reside in the retreats of ascetics. Thou art endued with every
virtue, possessed of beautiful eyebrows and hair ending in the fairest
curls, O daughter of Himavat, the king of mountains! Thou art skilled in
every work. Thou art endued with self-restraint and thou lookest
impartially upon all creatures. Divested of the sense of meum, thou art
devoted to the practice of all the duties. O thou of beautiful features,
I desire to ask thee about something. I wish that, asked by me, thou wilt
discourse to me on that topic. Savitri is the chaste wife of Brahma. The
chaste Sachi is the wife of Indra. Dhumrorna is the spouse of Markandeya,
and Riddhi of (king) Vaisravana. Varuna has Gauri for his spouse, and
Surya has Suvarchala. Rohini is the chaste wife of Sasin, and Swaha of
Vibhavasu. Kasyapa has Aditi. All these regard their husbands as their
gods. Thou hast, O goddess, conversed and associated with all of them
every day. It is for this reason, O thou that art conversant with every
duty, that I desire to question thee about the duties of women, O thou
whose words are always consistent 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 dawn, 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.'"'"