DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.636#0401
The Model Wife. 389
The house in which the husband and wife are to take up
their abode should be in the neighbourhood of good men,
with a garden surrounding it, and with at least two rooms,
an outer and an inner. Many details then follow in re-
gard to the proper conduct of the married couple. The
husband is to perform all his necessary duties, and, as to the
wife, she is to be a pattern of perfection. She is to keep
all her husband's secrets, never to reveal the amount of his
wealth, to excel all other women in attractiveness of appear-
ance, in attention to her husband, in knowledge of cookery,
in general cleverness, in ruling her servants wisely, in hos-
pitality, in thrift, in adapting expenditure to income, and in
superintending every minute circumstance of her family's
daily life. Finally, she is to co-operate with her husband
in pursuing the three great objects of life—religious merit,
wealth, and enjoyment; and it is remarkable that to neglect
the third is as sinful as to be careless about the other two.
This kind of perfect woman is called a PadminI, or lotus-like
woman. Three other kinds are specified: the Citrinl, or
woman of varied accomplishments; the SahkhinI, or conch-
like woman ; and the Hastini, or elephant-like woman.
In ancient and medieval times women were not unfre-
quently Sanskrit scholars, and lady Pandits are not wanting
even in the present day.
It is interesting to compare the definition of a wife given in
Maha-bharata I. 3038, etc., of which the following is a nearly
literal version:—
A wife is half the man, his truest friend;
A loving wife is a perpetual spring
Of virtue, pleasure, wealth; a faithful wife
Is his best aid in seeking heavenly bliss;
A sweetly-speaking wife is a companion
In solitude, a father in advice,
A mother in all seasons of distress,
A rest in passing through life's wilderness.
The house in which the husband and wife are to take up
their abode should be in the neighbourhood of good men,
with a garden surrounding it, and with at least two rooms,
an outer and an inner. Many details then follow in re-
gard to the proper conduct of the married couple. The
husband is to perform all his necessary duties, and, as to the
wife, she is to be a pattern of perfection. She is to keep
all her husband's secrets, never to reveal the amount of his
wealth, to excel all other women in attractiveness of appear-
ance, in attention to her husband, in knowledge of cookery,
in general cleverness, in ruling her servants wisely, in hos-
pitality, in thrift, in adapting expenditure to income, and in
superintending every minute circumstance of her family's
daily life. Finally, she is to co-operate with her husband
in pursuing the three great objects of life—religious merit,
wealth, and enjoyment; and it is remarkable that to neglect
the third is as sinful as to be careless about the other two.
This kind of perfect woman is called a PadminI, or lotus-like
woman. Three other kinds are specified: the Citrinl, or
woman of varied accomplishments; the SahkhinI, or conch-
like woman ; and the Hastini, or elephant-like woman.
In ancient and medieval times women were not unfre-
quently Sanskrit scholars, and lady Pandits are not wanting
even in the present day.
It is interesting to compare the definition of a wife given in
Maha-bharata I. 3038, etc., of which the following is a nearly
literal version:—
A wife is half the man, his truest friend;
A loving wife is a perpetual spring
Of virtue, pleasure, wealth; a faithful wife
Is his best aid in seeking heavenly bliss;
A sweetly-speaking wife is a companion
In solitude, a father in advice,
A mother in all seasons of distress,
A rest in passing through life's wilderness.