Chapter 52 - On Women’s Conduct

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

The brāhmaṇa said:

1. O Viṣṇu, how was there (i.e. for what reason was there) a wound of the stake on the body of Māṇḍavya (i.e. why was he fixed on the stake)? How (i.e. for what reason) leprosy spread on the body of the husband of the loyal wife?

Hari said:

2. As a child, Māṇḍavya inadvertently put (i.e. inserted) a straw into the abdomen of a cricket, and abandoned her through folly.

3. That brāhmaṇa, who was ignorant of dharma, due to that blemish, experienced a poignant pain day and night.

4. But being engaged in abstract meditation he did not feel (the agony) caused by the stake. Due to his great practice in deep meditation, the sage did not experience the full poignancy.

5. O best brāhmaṇa, due to the brāhmaṇa leper’s having harmed a brāhmaṇa, and due to his not having restrained his senses, there was leprosy, stinking with pus on his body.

6. O brāhmaṇa, formerly he had offered four young girls and also three daughters to brāhmaṇas, therefore he (obtained) that chaste (woman as his) wife.

7. Due to her only, he would be equal to me. Why should you be amazed? Know that the previous karma (is the cause).

The brāhmaṇa said:

8. He, whose wife is unruly and wicked, will not certainly get heaven; since, O lord, her life is like this, good of all is desired.

Hari said:

9. There are certain unruly and wicked wives of a man who gives everything. Among them the man should not think about her who cannot be protected.

10. To women none is dear; nor is there anyone that is not dear to them. Like cows looking for newer and newer grass they look for newer and newer lover.

11. A woman certainly resorts to a man who is poor, ugly, or who is not virtuous or who does not come from a good family or who is a servant.

12. A young married woman after leaving her husband, who is endowed with virtues, who belongs to a good family, who is very rich, who is handsome, and adept in sex would resort to a mean man.

13. O brāhmaṇa, listen to the dialogue between Umā and Nārada, by (listening to) which you would fully know the various actions of women.

14-15. O brāhmaṇa, the sage Nārada was naturally inquisitive about everything. Thinking to himself, he went to the excellent mountain Kailāsa, in the Himālaya, which was (Śiva’s) dwelling connected with the legend of Nandi. The magnanimous sage, having saluted Pārvatī, asked her:

16. “O goddess, I am eager to know about the ill acts of women. You are connected with the occupation of young married women.

17. You truly know the heart of all women. Therefore, please tell everything to me, who am humble and ignorant.”

The goddess said:

18. In this existence (as women) which is fit to be united with, whether it is appropriate or not, the heart of women is undoubtedly always fixed upon men.

19. O Nārada, it is true, (quite) true, that the vulva of women becomes moistened on seeing a well-dressed man, whether he is her brother or son.

20. When there is no place, no moment or no suitor (available), then (only) the chastity of women happens to be there.

21. A woman is like a pot of ghee; a man is like a burning charcoal. Therefore one should not keep ghee and fire at one place.

22. O son, as the driver of an elephant brings him under control with a goad or a mallet, (exactly) in the same way the protector of women (brings them under control).

23. Her father protects her in her childhood; her husband protects her in her youth; her sons protect her in her old age. A woman never deserves freedom.

24. So due to her freedom and her own desire, a beautiful clever woman, sought after by a man, would act according to her urge.

25. As cooked food, in the absence of protection, is controlled by (i.e. eaten by) dogs and crows, in the same way, a young woman would become corrupt due to freedom.

26. Again, the family would be spoiled due to her contact. He who is born from the seed of another man (than his own father) is of a mixed caste.

27. Commixture of castes is caused by paramours. The sinner (who commits it) would certainly live in hell. All (such sinners) are born as insects on the earth.

28. Then O son of a brāhmaṇa, such a man is taken to (i.e. born in) a Mleccha family. Since due to a corrupt wife the family would perish, therefore a man should not have a corrupt wife.

29. That mean man who even after knowing the fault of women, endures it, would remain in the fearful Raurava (hell) with his dead ancestors.

30. Some woman causes the family to fall, some emancipates the family. Therefore, making all efforts, a wise man should marry a woman born in a good family.

31. A woman is impartial to both the families (i.e. that of her father and that of her husband), and brings them together. A good woman emancipates the families (i.e. members of both the families), (while) a wicked one causes them to fall.

32. They say that in the mundane existence, heaven, (good of) the family, blemish, success or failure, son, daughter, friend depend upon woman.

33. Therefore a wise man should marry one or the other for raising progeny. She is the abode of many blemishes.

34. The husband, who approaches his wife during menses, becomes the killer of a brāhmaṇa or of an embryo, and -goes to hell.

35. He, a sinner, who, through delusion dislikes and deserts a chaste wife, commits that sin which (he would have committed) by killing her, and having experienced the fruits of that (sin), he would go to hell.

36. By kidnapping a woman, a man (i.e. the man who kidnaps) would go to (i.e. would be born in) the family of a cāṇḍāla. In the same way a man becomes fallen by abandoning his wife.

37. Such a man would, placing his wife on his shoulder, live for a long time in Yama’s city. Her feces and urine would always fall on his head.

38. Thus for thousands of years the wicked one carries (on his shoulders) the burden (of his wife). Again he would go to (i.e. live in) Raurava for as many years as there are hairs on the body.

39. He again descends (i.e. is born) among the insects, and then goes to (i.e. obtains) the existence of man. Then due to former blemish, he obtains (i.e. is involved in) quarrel and (suffers from) grief.

40-4la. Having thus obtained three births, a man is free from sin. His wife, suffering in hell for that much period, and being born as a female crow and a female fox, and having eaten the filth of leavings of food, would become a widow in the human world.

41 b-43a. And a man, a practised deceiver, who would approach (i.e. cohabit with) a cāṇḍāla woman or a Mleccha woman or a Pulkasa woman, having suffered there (i.e. in the hell) twice, thrice or four times that period (is reborn), and having cohabited with his mother, his preceptor’s wife, a brāhmaṇa woman, a queen or someone else who is the wife of a superior person, is not born again (i.e. eternally lives in hell only).

43b-44. There is no requital after having cohabited with (i.e. for one who cohabits with) his sister, his son’s wife, sister or daughter-in-law, his paternal uncle’s wife, the sister of his father or mother or any other woman (than his own wife).

45-46a. He would be the killer of a brāhmaṇa, would be blind and dull of speech. Being deaf in ears he falls, and there is no atonement (for the sin of him also) who has uttered very obscene words about women as a class.

The brāhmaṇa said:

46b-47a. O lord, having done such bad deeds, how is liberation (possible) (for such a man)? (Please) tell it to me. I really want to hear (about it).

The lord said:

47b-48a. Having gone to (i.e. cohabited with) them (i.e. one, who cohabits with these women), dies after embracing a doll of heated iron, and then being pure, goes to the other world.

48b-49a. All the sin of that man, who leaves the householder’s stage and becomes intent on me and always remembers Govinda, perishes.

49b-52a. (Even if) he has committed a myriad of brāhmaṇacides by approaching (i.e. cohabitting with) his preceptor’s wife, or has committed a hundred lakh of sins by drinking spirituous liquor distilled from rice etc. or has kept gold etc. with him for a long time after having snatched it—all these and other great sins of such a man perish as cotton or hay perishes (is burnt) after having come in contact with fire. Therefore, a man would be purified after having recollected my name i.e. Govinda.

52b-53a. That man, who lives in the householder’s stage (i.e. as a householder) and having worshipped him (i.e. who loudly recites Govinda’s name and worships him), is free from sin.

53b-55. That man obtains fruit equal to the fruit obtained by giving away a crore of cows on a solar eclipse day at the bank of the Ganges—or that which is a thousand times more—by reciting the name of Govinda, and he would eternally live in my city. Such a man becomes a sovereign king after having lived in (my) house according to his desire.

56-57. A man having listened to my story (narrated) in a Purāṇa, becomes equal to me. Having narrated the Purāṇa (to others) he would obtain intimate union with me. Therefore one should always carefully listen to and cause (others) to listen to a Purāṇa—the store of dharma; (i.e. should recite it to others). Such a man would go to (i.e. be united with) Viṣṇu’s body.

58. O son of a brāhmaṇa, listen to another thing also, which I shall narrate fully, as to what would happen (i.e. what is to be done) according to the circumstances when a sin with reference to a woman is committed.

59. A man should, on an auspicious day, present a jar of water—giving great fruit—along with the gift of all seeds to a brāhmaṇa. That moment only he is purified forthwith.

60. He should give the seeds of all grains etc., to a brāhmaṇa at the (proper) time. Having destroyed all his sins, he obtains heaven eternally.

61-62a. O brāhmaṇa sage, I shall tell you about the strong

virtue of a chaste woman. Her family becomes pure; and prosperity always prevails (in her family). Both the families obtain heaven, and also her husband and she herself (go to heaven).

62b. O brāhmaṇa, the virtue of a faithful, devoted wife has been forgotten (to be told) to you who have been asking (about it).

63-64a. I shall again tell what is beneficial to the worlds and auspicious as regards the women. Those meritorious women, having got up early go, after the chaste lady, to my position, as a result of their religious merit.

64b-66a. (The vow) is recommended for six months, or an year or more. The chaste woman, as long as she is pure, would go to heaven. The woman, who follows her husband, takes him, who is a drunkard, the killer of a brāhmaṇa, or full of all sins, to heaven from the mud (of sin).

66b-67a. He shines like the god of love, and she is charming like Rati. In the world only, she experiences unending pleasure.

67b-68a. She, who, on the death of her lord at a distant place, after having got his insignia, dies through her prowess as a chaste woman, emancipates her husband from sin.

68b-69a. If the chaste woman, when her husband is dead in another country, takes the insignia of her husband, she would go to heaven after having lain (i.e. if she lies) on (the pile of funeral) fire.

69b-70a. A brāhmaṇa woman who follows her dead husband, would not take herself and her husband to heaven, as a result of killing herself.

70b-7la. By the command of Brahmā, a brāhmaṇa woman should not die (by going to the cremation ground) with (the dead body of) her husband. She, becomes a killer of herself, (by thus dying with her husband. So she should not die like this), but (should) become a recluse.

Narottama said:

71b-72a. Of all the castes, a brāhmaṇa is recommended to be praiseworthy. What is meritorious here for an eminent brāhmaṇa, and what is its opposite (i.e. sinful)?

The lord said:

72b-74a. A rash act is never proper for a brāhmaṇa woman. A man (who lures her to do such an act) is a killer of a brāhmaṇa. Therefore, O brāhmaṇa, I shall tell you which vow a brāhmaṇa woman should observe; please listen properly.

74b- 75a. She should never eat flesh brought from a market. (Then) she would obtain the fruit of the performance of thousands of horse-sacrifices, at the end of the year.

75b-77a. Worship of the desired deity is the best vow (in honour) of Hari. Without jealousy she should also offer water and piṇḍa to her husband. The chaste woman will be suddenly united with her husband in the heaven of Viṣṇu; (and will live with him there) for crores of thousands of ages and crores of hundreds of ages.

77b-79a. From there the brāhmaṇa woman will come out, after having received a great vow. She would emancipate thousands and hundreds (of members) of both the families (i.e. her father’s family and her husband’s family). Therefore, relatives, sons, brothers etc. should never curb (her) and should not make her lose her vow.

79b-82. A widow should not observe the vow when Viṣṇu’s day occurs. The unfortunate one again becomes a widow existence after existence. She who eats fish and flesh, goes to hell (i.e. lives in hell) for a longtime, due to the wrong performance of the vows, and certainly becomes a bitch. That wicked widow, who cohabits (with a man) is the destroyer of the family, and having sufferel [suffered?] (i.e. lived) in hells, she becomes (i.e. is born) as a female vulture for ten births. Then becoming (i.e. being born as) a female jackal she would be born as a human being.

83a. Similarly she who becomes a widow in her childhood becomes a maid (if she errs in the performance of vows).

The brāhmaṇa said:

83b-84a. Tell me (about) the fruit (that one would get) by offering (one’s) daughter (to a proper bridegroom) and also tell me the fruit (that one gets) by (offering) a maid. O lord, tell me about the (proper) procedure about this, if you favour

The lord said:

84b-85a. Listen to the fruit (which one would get) by (offering one’s) daughter (to a bridegroom), who is endowed with (good) form (i.e. who is handsome), who is endowed with virtues, who hails from a good family, who is youthful, who is wealthy.

85b-86a. He, who gives his daughter united (i.e. decorated) with all ornaments, has (indeed) given the entire earth, with mountains, forests and jungles.

86b-87a. The giver would certainly get the fruit of offering his daughter (decorated with) half (the number of) ornaments. The fruit of offering a daughter without ornaments would be a quarter (of the fruit mentioned above).

87b-88a. A man who receives the price for his daughter goes to hell. The ignorant man, after having sold his daughter (i.e. who accepts the price for his daughter), never comes back from hell.

88b-89a. He, who, through greed, offers his daugh ter to a man who is not suitable (for her), goes to the Raurava hell and (then) is born as a cāṇḍāla.

89b-90a. Therefore a wise man never takes from his son-inlaw the price for his daughter. What he willingly gives is inexhaustible for him (i.e. gives him an inexhaustible fruit).

90b-9la. All that land, a cow, gold, wealth, garments, corn which he gives to his son-in-law and the presents made to his daughter at the time of her marriage becomes (i.e. leads to an) inexhaustible (fruit).

91b-92a. O child, whatever presents are given to the bride

at her marriage by those who belong to her family or by those who belong to other families (than her own family) become inexhaustible.

92b-93a. The donor does (i.e. should) not remember the gift, nor does (i.e. should) the recipient ask for it. Both (who remember what he gives, and who asks for a present) go to hell like a pot the rope of which is cut off.

93b-94a. So a good man should give presents to a bride at her marriage. By not giving such a present one goes to hell and becomes (i.e. is born as) a maid-servant.

94b-95a. A daughter is not given in marriage to anyone of these six types of men, viz. one who lives very near, one who lives far away, one who is extremely opulent, one who is very poor, who does not have a high descent, or who is a fool.

95b-96a. Similarly a daughter is not given to a very old man, or to him who is very miserable or to him who lives in (another) country, to him who becomes very angry or to him who is not content.

96b. A man, giving (i.e. who gives) his daughter to (anyone of) these obtains (i.e. goes to) hell.

97a. (A man, who gives his daughter to an unsuitable man) through greed, through being honoured or who exchanges the bride (at the time of marriage), goes to hell.

97b-98a. By offering a dear, young, beautiful woman (i.e. a maiden) along with ornaments and bed, to (one of) the sages, a man would obtain unending fruit.

98b-99a. The fruit of a young virgin and a girl eight years old is the same. One should be given to a suitor, the other one to a brāhmaṇa.

99b-I 00. A wise man, without troubling himself, should offer a purchased daughter to god. Till the end of the Kalpa he would get (i.e. live in) heaven, and would be a king or a very rich man on the earth; and in every birth he would get a very beautiful, fine wife.

101-103. The sin of that man, who everyday listens to this excellent auspiciou s account, perishes and he masters all sacred works. He would get eternal heaven (i.e. would eternally live in heaven), and would become dear to women. A kṣatriya becomes victorious and certainly a king also. Listening to it removes sins committed in birth after birth. In the same way, an excellent woman receives good fortune (i.e. the auspicious state of wife-hood).