Hindu Law and Custom (Recht und Sitte) c7.672

c7.672

Even adultery does not always lead to complete expulsion. Thus accordidg to Gaut. 22, 35 and Vas. 21, 8, 15 the adulteress should practise penance for a year and during that period should receive only poor food; according to Y. 1, 70 and Nār. 12, 91 she should get bad food and bad clothes, sleep on earth and must do the menial work of sweeping and cleaning. Par. 10, 15 mentions similar penances for various cases of adultery and speaks of complete expulsion or exile in a foreign land only if the adulterous connection is not without issue or where the wife has cut herself off from the family for good. Similarly Y. 1, 72; Hār. 3, 13 has even expressly opposed the expulsion of the adulteress. On the other hand the expulsion of the wife even for crimes other than adultery has been referred to. Thus according to Nār. 12, 92 f. a wife who is wasteful, brings about abortion or seeks to take the life of her husband should at once be driven out