Vyasasmriti 2
English (machine translation) 2
- Language
- English
Contents
- 2.56 — 1 part
2.1
Now begins the description of the rules of marriage.
Having thus attained the status of a graduated householder, desiring the second stage of life,
he should await, for the sake of marriage, a maiden born of an irreproachable family,
2.2
free from disease, born of an uncorrupted lineage, untainted by the taking of a bride-price,
of the same social class, not having the same lineage of sages, not born of the maternal or paternal gotra,
2.3
not previously married to another, younger than himself, endowed with auspicious marks,
wearing a lower garment, youthful, renowned for ten generations,
2.4
from a father of illustrious name, possessing sons, of good conduct, and virtuous;
having obtained the daughter of one who wishes to give her, he should marry her according to socio-religious duty,
2.5
by the ordinance of the Brāhma marriage; in its absence, by another rite.
She should be given to an equal in age, learning, lineage, and other qualities.
2.6
Among the father, the paternal grandfather, brothers, paternal uncles, kin, and mother,
in the absence of the preceding, the next should give her; in the absence of all, she may go on her own.
2.7
If that maiden should see her menses through the failure of the givers,
the one who fails to give her becomes a fallen man, incurring as many sins as the killing of an embryo.
2.8
Of the two, if one says 'I will give to you' and the other 'I will take',
and having made an agreement with each other, one does not honor it, he incurs a fine.
2.9
One who abandons an unblemished maiden should be fined, as also one who defames an unblemished one;
he who does not declare a flaw to be flawed, or who alters that for his own purposes [should be fined].
Once a woman of the same social class has been married, he may at will marry another.
2.10
A son begotten upon her is not inferior to one born of a woman of the same class.
2.11
A brahmin may marry a Kṣatriya woman; a Kṣatriya woman may be married by a Vaiśya, [and a Vaiśya woman by a Vaiśya];
no twice-born man may ever marry a Śūdra woman, nor may a man of lower class marry a woman born of a higher class.
2.12
Among wives of various social classes, the one of the same class is his companion in rites,
conforming to socio-religious duty in duties, the most devoted to duty, and senior among those of her own class.
2.13
Twice-born ones! Formerly, this single body was divided by the Self-born:
by half they became husbands, and by half they became wives—thus says revealed scripture.
2.14
As long as a man does not obtain a wife, so long he remains half;
a half does not reproduce; he should become whole to reproduce—so says revealed scripture.
2.15
Heavy is this foundation of the three aims of life, unable to be borne by any other;
therefore, becoming master of himself day by day, he should maintain her.
2.16
Having taken a wife, with the fire and the wife, having established a household, he should reside in the home;
having acquired property suited to his duty, he should not neglect the Vedic sacred fire.
2.17
He should perform the rite prescribed by remembered tradition in the marital fire, and that prescribed by revealed scripture in the Vedic fires
day after day according to rule, preceded by devotion.
2.18
In socio-religious duty, wealth, and pleasure, the husband and wife
should day and night have a single mind, through observing the same vows and conduct.
2.19
There is no separate means of accomplishing the three aims of life for women,
either through inward disposition or through transfer [of merit]: such is the supreme rule of the scripture.
2.20
Rising before her husband and performing the purification of her body, / she should lift up the bedding and other things, and thoroughly clean the house.
2.21
Clearing the courtyard and the fire chamber with sweeping and smearing [with cow dung], / she should wash with warm water the oily implements used for the fire rites.
2.22
And likewise with the sprinkling water, she should arrange them in their proper places. / She must never separate any of the pairs of vessels.
2.23
Having cleaned the vessels, she should keep them filled. / Washing the cooking pots thoroughly outside,
2.24
and cleaning the hearth with earth, she should then place the fire there. / Remembering the vessels designated for use, the ingredients, and the household goods,
2.25
and having completed the morning duties, she should pay homage to her elders. / She should wear only the garments, ornaments, and gems
2.26
given by them, or by her husband, his parents, brothers, maternal uncles, and kinsmen. / Pure in mind, speech, and action, conforming to the direction of her husband,
2.27
following him like a shadow, pure, like a friend in helpful deeds, / and like a maidservant in assigned tasks, a wife should always be devoted to her husband.
2.28
Then, having prepared the food and presented it to her husband, / she should feed those who are to be fed with the foods prepared for the vaiśvadeva sacrifice.
2.29
Permitted by her husband, she should herself consume the remaining food; / and she should spend the remainder of the day calculating income and expenses.
2.30
Again in the evening, and again in the morning, having performed the cleaning of the house,
2.31
having cooked the meal, the virtuous woman should feed her husband abundantly; / eating [herself] without overindulgence, and managing the domestic affairs,
2.32
she should spread a good bed and then attend upon her husband. / When her husband is asleep, she should sleep near him with her mind fixed on him, / not naked, not heedless, free from desire, and with senses restrained.
2.33
She should not speak loudly or harshly, nor say much that is unpleasant to her husband; / she must not dispute with anyone, nor utter meaningless lamentations.
2.34
She should not be prone to overspending, nor act against socio-religious duty and material welfare; / heedlessness, delirium, anger, jealousy, deceit, excessive pride,
2.35
backbiting, violence, malice, excessive egoism, crookedness, / disbelief in the Vedas, rashness, theft, and ostentation—the virtuous woman must avoid these.
2.36
Serving her husband thus as her supreme deity, / she attains fame and peace in this world, and his world in the hereafter.
2.37
The regular duty of a woman has been stated; now the occasional duty is declared: / Because of the impurity arising from the appearance of the menses, she should cast aside everything.
2.38
Unseen by all, bashful, she should quickly dwell inside the house, / wrapped in a single garment, humbled, without bathing or ornaments,
2.39
silent, downcast, steady in eyes, hands, and feet; / she should eat only boiled grain at night in an earthen bowl.
2.40
She should sleep attentively on the ground; she should pass three days in this manner. / At the end of the three nights, she should bathe along with her clothes when the sun has risen.
2.41
Having looked upon the face of her husband, she becomes purified according to socio-religious duty; / having performed her purification, she should again perform her duties as before.
2.42
The sixteen nights from the appearance of the menses are the fertile period. / Then the male seed, unimpaired, grows in the clean field.
2.43
He should avoid the first four nights, as well as the nodal days; / he should approach [her] on the even nights, [avoiding] the asterisms of Puṣan, the ancestors, and the rākṣasas.
2.44
When the path of the sun is veiled, the man should approach his wife; / adorned with desire, he obtains a son endowed with auspicious marks.
2.45
Approaching her thus during the fertile period, established in student celibacy, / even approaching at will, he does not incur fault, being devoted to none other.
2.46
A husband who turns away from his wife during the fertile period incurs the sin of killing an embryo. / But a wife who receives a fetus from another is a sinful woman who must be abandoned.
2.47
She is corrupted by a grave sin, the destroyer of her husband's fetus; / [yet a husband] who abandons a wife of virtuous conduct falls from socio-religious duty.
2.48
Even if tainted by a grave sin, the husband is not to be disregarded by her; / but when she remains impure, [he may reside] apart with reflective concern.
2.49
For those women corrupted by infidelity, without sight of their husbands, / reprimanded and unaddressed, the husband should make them dwell elsewhere.
2.50
When she has bathed after her menstrual period, he should treat her as before. / But a deceitful woman, one who ruins socio-religious duty and pleasure, a barren woman, one with chronic illness,
2.51
one who is extremely wicked, addicted to vices, or harmful—he may supersede [her with another wife]. / Even toward a superseded wife, the master should show equal treatment.
2.52
Pale, with a dejected face, devoid of bodily ornamentation, / the wife devoted to her husband should emaciate herself without food when her husband has traveled abroad.
2.53
Taking her dead husband, a brahmin woman may enter the fire; / if living, having cut off her hair, she should purify her body through austerity.
2.54
Under no circumstances is lack of protection appropriate for women; / that [protection] must be provided in succession by father, husband, sons, and the rest.
2.55
The sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons born of a well-guarded woman / worship the ancestors through sacrifices, resulting in the attainment of liberation.
2.56
One should cremate those who have died with the agnihotra fire according to the prescribed rules; / he should cremate [her] without delay, and the wife should follow him there.
2.56.p1
Thus ends the second chapter, entitled 'The Qualification of Women', in the treatise on socio-religious duty composed by Śrī Vedavyāsa.
Linked texts (1)
- Vyāsasmṛti — Vyāsa, Sanskrit