Markandeyapurana 71.11.p1

71.11.p1

rājovāca

The king spoke:
Adorable Sir, what shall I do, such as I am? It was the maturing of my actions, that I abandoned her because she was not favourably disposed to me while I was favourable to her. Whatever one does, that one endures with one’s mind burning, even that with one’s inmost soul terrified at the pain of separation thereby, adorable Sir. But now I know not where she when abandoned in the forest has gone, or whether she has been devoured by lions, tigers and night-roaming beasts in the forest.

The ṛṣi spoke:
I knew this before, which thou hast done, O king, and the whole of thy business in coming back to me. Ask me here “what must I do?” with anxious mind; and since thou art come, O king, hear what thou must do. A wife is a potent cause of righteousness, wealth and love among men; and in particular one who forsakes her has in sooth abandoned righteousness. A wifeless man, O king, is not fit for his own works, be he brāhman or kṣatriya, vaiśya or even śūdra, O king. No brilliant deed didst thou do, Sir, when thou didst abandon thy wife; for as women must not forsake a husband, so men must not forsake a wife.