Sexual Life in Ancient India: A Study in the Comparative History of Indian Culture v2.c12.18

v2.c12.18

Terribly hard and noble beyond words is the task of the good woman already as a daughter, and still more so as a wife, as is explained in iii, 205 ff. “Then did King Yudhishṭhira put to the famous and mighty Mārkaṇḍeya a question on virtue, right hard to decide (dharmapraçnam sudurvi dam). ‘I would fain hear set forth by thee in its true nature the nobility and dignity of women, this thing above all others, fair, and holy and good (dharmya). Clearly before us we see here, O priestly Rishi, the gods, the sun, the moon, the wind, the earth, and fire, O best one, and father and mother, O holy one, and the teacher, O best one, and whatever else there is, that which has been created, that, too, O son of Bhṛigu. All persons of standing especially must be given honour, and then those women who know only one man; the obedience of faithful wives seems to me a hard thing. Do thou, my lord, set forth to us the high dignity of faithful wives that keep a check on the host of the senses, and a restraint on the heart, and ever bethink themselves of their husband, as of a god. O lord, thou glorious one, this seems to me a heavy task. Women, O twice-born one, are obedient to mother and father and husband. Compared with the so awe-inspiring duty and virtue (dharmāt sughorāt) of women, there is, indeed, so far as I can see, none other whatever that is burdensome. For it is with virtuous ways, and ever attentive, that women have their work to do; truly they have a heavy task towards father and mother¹; and the women, too, who know only a husband, and who speak the truth, and who carry the fruit in their body for ten months, and so live beside death—what could there be that is more wonderful? And women come into the utmost danger and pain beyond compare, and so