Relation of Husband and Wife [Markandeya puranam] Chapter 2
The husband and wife constitute an individual unit of the society. The
relation between husband and wife is the base of domestic happiness.
Rig Veda 1.122.2
पत्नीव पूर्वहूतिं वावृधध्या उषासानक्ता पुरुधा विदाने । स्तरीर्नात्कं व्युतं
वसाना सूर्यस्य श्रिया सुदृशी हिरण्यैः ॥
patnīva pūrvahūtiṃ vāvṛdhadhyā uṣāsānaktā purudhā vidāne | starīr nātkaṃ
vyutaṃ vasānā sūryasya śriyā sudṛśī hiraṇyaiḥ ||
“Animated by our diversified praise, hasten, Morning and Night, to attend
to our first invocation, as a wife (to the first call of her husband); and
may the--Dawn, beautiful with the lustre of the (rising) Sun, and robbing
like the Sun (her) vast expanse with golden rays, (come to our early rite).”
Commentary by Sāyaṇa: Ṛgveda-bhāṣya
Starīḥ = what covers or expands, smoke; the Sun invested or clothed with
light, or destructive of foes: śatrūṇām hiṃsakaḥ tejasāchanno vā Ādityaḥ
SUN ARISE AT OUR CALL FOR YAGNA AS WIFE ATTENDS TO THE CALL OF HUSBAND.
तत् । इत् । मे । छन्त्सत् । वपुषः । वपुःतरम् । पुत्रः । यत् । जानम् ।
पित्रोः । अधिइयति । जाया । पतिम् । वहति । वनुना । सुमत् । पुंसः । इत् ।
भद्रः । वहतुः । परिकृतः ॥10 32 3 R V
tat | it | me | chantsat | vapuṣaḥ | vapuḥ-taram | putraḥ | yat | jānam |
pitroḥ | adhi-iyati | jāyā | patim | vahati | vanunā | su-mat | puṃsaḥ | it
| bhadraḥ | vahatuḥ | pari-kṛtaḥ
“May (Indra) desire for me this (act of sacrifice). The most beautiful of
beautiful things, (as) when a sonproclaims his birth from his parents. The
wife brings her husband (to her side) with genitive le words; the
goodfortune of the husband is perfected only as marriage.”
Commentary by Sāyaṇa: Ṛgveda-bhāṣya
When a son proclaims his birth: at the time of theSubrahmaṇya recitation,
the sacrificer proclaims his birth, saying, "the son of so and so and
worships"; thewife...marriage: the Soma to be divided for the sake of the
heroic Indra bearing (Soma?) to the gods issanctified-- may Indra desire
it
As a son by wife made parent proud so too indra shall give all to mak the
receiver proud.
According to Āpastambha:
“No division takes place between husband and wife, for since the time of
marriage they stand united in respect of religious ceremonies and similarly
in regard to the rewards for such deeds as produce spiritual merit and also
with regard to the acquisition of property.”[jāyāpatyorna vibhāgo vidyate /
pāṇigrahaṇād hi sahatvaṃ karmasu / tathā puṇyaphaleṣu/ dravyaparigraheṣu ca
/ Āpastambadharmasūtra, 2.6.16-19]
In the Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa the love relation between a couple is
described very beautifully which is considered to be highly blessed. An
extramarital relation of both the husband and the wife is considered as the
serious sinful act which can ruin the man’s life and bring misery for the
whole life. So it was regarded as painful and harmful. [ paradārā
na gantavyāḥ puruṣeṇa vipaścitā // (extramartial relation}
iṣṭāpūrtāyuṣāṃ hantrī paradāragatir nṛṇām /
na hīdṛśam anāyuṣyaṃ loke kiñcana vidyate //
yādṛśaṃ puruṣasyeha paradārābhimarśanam / Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa, 31.62 b-64 a;
cf. Manusmṛti, 4.134; Mahābhārata, 13.104.21]
As stated in this purāṇa the wives play a major role in the family and in
the life of her husband. The wife always consorts her husband and serves
the husband with high respect. Again, she has the right of residence in the
husband’s house. To leave or abandon a wife is considered to be a sinful
act. Both of them suffer in their disposition and in that situation, they
support each other as a helper. [ patnyānukūlayā bhāvyaṃ yathā
śīle’pibhartari / duḥśīlāpi tathā bhāryā poṣaṇīyā nareśvara // ASutra.,
66.64] This spirit can hold the strong relation between husband and wife
and then the family can be considered as an ideal family.
In the Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa, there is a dialogue between Anasūyā, the
chaste wife of Atri, and a brahmaṇa’s chaste wife centering round the
problem of a wife’s love and faithfulness to her husband and his climax or
culmination. The husband is regarded as the highest pleasure or joy, God,
deity for a wife. [ yato bhartā parā gatiḥ /yato bhartā parā gatiḥ /] For a
woman, her husband and her love for him is the main goal of her life. This
tends to her benefit now and in future also. Then she finds happiness here
and after death.
{jānāmyetanna nārīṇāṃ kaccit patisamāgatiḥ /
tat prītiścopakārāya iha loke paratra ca //
patiprasādādiha ca pretya caiva yaśasvinī /
nārī sukhamavāpnoti nāryā bhartā hi daivatam //, 16.67-68
nārīṇāṃ bharturanyanna daivatam / , 20.33 a; cf. Mahāhārata, 13.146.55;
Matsyapurāṇa, 216.17} A wife believes that all her desires will be
successful through her service to her husband.[ sarvakāmaphalāvāptiḥ patyuḥ
suśrūṣaṇāt striyaḥ / 16.57]
Family Relations
The progress of a family depends not only upon the head of the family, but
also on each of the family members. The eldest son of a family is of equal
importance as the head of family i.e. the father. If he ignores the
responsibilities of the family then it is considered a sin. In the
Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa, there is an example of elder brother’s love and respect.
Here, a bird named Kandhara want to take revenge for the death of his elder
brother, Kaṇka, who was killed by the demon-murderer called Vidyudrūpa.
There are two examples found in the Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa, expressing
daughter-in-law’s respect for their parents-in-laws. Here it is stated
that, Madālasā, wife of Ṛtadhvaja, used to enjoy with her husband after
bowing down respectfully before her parents-in-law every day in the
morning. Again Hrīmati, king Avīkṣita’s wife bowed down to her
father-in-law after her arrival to her new residence. Madālasā also
respects the other relatives according to their age and propriety.
There exists a very good family relation amongst the children, the aged
one, the husband and the wife, other kinsmen etc. An aged person gets high
respect from the other family members in a cultured family. In the matter
of food and bedding, a cultured family gives importance on the age and
relation. When a man earns his livelihood without breaking the rules of the
Smṛtis and Śrutis, he was considered to be good for home and family. Again,
where the wives worship her husband and follow him, the son worships the
teacher, the gods and the father there is no fear from Alakṣmi.
>From the above discussion the common bonding of the family members and
their love and respect for each of the family members and other relatives
are vividly expressed which can be shown as the strong bond of a family.
The family is deeply embedded in human nature. Without the institution of
family, there was no human society in the primitive times.
Role of Women as Wife
The role of a woman, as a wife, is very significant. As a patnī or
ardhāṅginī or sahadharmiṇī she remains always associated to her husband.
The happiness of a married couple exists in the ideal relationship of both
the husband and the wife. Yet the wife is seen to be very careful. Amongst
those, who are liable to respect or worship, the wife places her husband in
the highest place.
As stated in the Bhāgavatapurāṇa the husband is the supreme deity for a
wife:
patireva hi nārīṇāṃ daivataṃ paramaṃ smṛtam /
The Rāmāyaṇa also describes the husband to be the goal of a wife:
patirekā gatiḥ sadā /
The Padmapurāṇa states the great importance and relation between husband
and wife through the sacred tie. The purity of husband wife’s bondage is as
old as in the Ṛgveda.
In the Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa also wives are shown to be always humble and loyal
to her husband’s service. It has been stated that as a sign of high respect
to her husband, a wife should always eat the food which has been left by
the husband. A wife is the cause of righteousness, happiness, wealth and
love for her husband. In the Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa a wifeless man is not
respected.
Role of Woman as Mother
Besides performing religious and domestic duties as wife, women have to
role as a mother of her children. The pride and reputation of a family is
by and large depending upon the role played by a mother in the family. In
the Ṛgveda the words Jani, Janī and Jāni were used to denote a mother.
Their motherhood supersedes wifehood. She reached the zenith of her power
when she became a mother. She was auspicious (kalyāṇi). According to
Manusmṛti, one ācārya excels ten upādhyāyas in glory, a father excels a
hundred ācāryas in glory, but a mother excels even a thousand fathers in
glory.
According to Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa, the wives of a good man bear fruit in their
sons. A mother is as always considered to be the well wisher of her
children. She does not curse her children very easily. Generally, she
excuses the faults of her children. But in exceptional cases it is seen
that the mother may curse her child out of extreme anger for him or her. In
this case the curse of the mother cannot be averted. This view has been
proved in the Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa, when Yama, cursed by his mother
Chāyāsaṃjñā. Yama went to his father for the removal of the curse. Then he
was told by his father that all curses could be averted but not that of a
mother. However, the curse was averted by his father, because Chāyāsaṃjñā
was not yama’s real mother, she was the substitute of his mother Saṃjñā.
In the Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa we find the evidence of desire of mother to have a
son, who is well-disposed towards the friend, who is able to face the foes
i.e. like a hero. A mother is considered as a hero when her son conquers
the enemies or even dies in the battle field facing the enemies with his
great valour. Otherwise, her pain of conception is regarded not to be
success.
Thus, it is seen that the mother expects good behaviour from his son and
the son who is kind enough, well disposed and able to face the enemy is
considered as real son, otherwise the son, which is devoid of any
courageous act, is not to be praised after his death and his mother’s act
of giving his birth to his son is considered to be in vain.
Women as Daughter
In the Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa we have found some words denoting daughter such as—
tanayā, (2.30; 21.21)
sutā, (2.32)
kaṇyā [kanyā?], (15.13; 28.29; 47.16) and
duhitṛ (21.66) etc.
In the context of marriage of daughters this Purāṇa states that giving
twice a daughter in marriage is a very sinful act In the Purāṇic times the
birth of a daughter was not unexpected. We find the example of desiring a
daughter in case of king Aśvatara who requested Śiva to grant the boon of
having Madālasā as his daughter. In the context of selecting the person
which is to be shunned in ceremonies to the pitṛs it is stated that a
father who deflowered his daughter was avoided. For the birth of a daughter
this Purāṇa recommends that one should approach his wife on the odd nights
and in order to avoid the birth of females, he should avoid just the fifth
night of the moon. In this Purāṇa it is exhibited that though birth of a
son was generally desired but there is no example of neglecting the birth
of a daughter. In some cases, we find more than one daughter. For example,
king Uttānapāda has two daughters, Dakṣa has twenty and four daughters of
which thirteen daughters have taken by Lord Dharma for his wives A father
had excessive self-interest for his daughters as like as towards his sons.
It becomes evident from the conversation between two deers. In the context
of allotting duties, the daughters were also given importance as ther son.
For example, Lord Sūrya allotted different duties to his two daughters
Yamunā and Tapatī. Thus, it can be said that the daughters are also given
importance at the time of Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa.
Women in the Field of Education
Education for women is shown from the Vedic times. But due to child
marriages and lack of interest in education among the women, their
education remained incomplete. Some references of educated ladies have been
found in the Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa. In the context of describing creation of the
Rudras sage Mārkaṇḍeya mentions the name of two educated ladies, namely,
Menā and Dhāriṇī by name who are Brahmavādinīs.
Some vidyās are imparted to some women as referred to in the
Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa. These are:
padminīvidyā,
sarvabhūtarutavidyā,
astragrāmahṛdayavidy and
svekchācāravidyā etc.
By the power of padminīvidyā one can achieve wealth according to his
desire. In the Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa this vidyā is found to be imparted by
Bhagavatī Parvatī to Kalāvatī. Through this vidyā Kalāvatī became able to
be the wife of Svārocis and all the Nidhis gave her welth according to her
desire. By the sarvabhūtarutavidyā one can understand the sound of
different animals.
In the Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa vivabhavarī, the daughter of Mandāra has given it
to Svārocis Astragrāmahṛdayavidyā is applied for defeating the enemies. The
Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa provids one example of this vidyā incase of Manorama, a
vidyādhari who offers this vidyā to Svārocis for her peotection from the
Rakṣasas Next vidyā is svekchācāravidyā. By the power of this vidyā one can
assume the desiring form. In this Purāṇa it is stated that after the
killing Kaṅka, his brother Kandhara killed Vidyutrūpa. Then his wife,
Madanikā, capable of assuming different forms, on reaching the house of
Kandhara took a form of Garuḍa stayed at his house.
Women in the Field of Yoga
In this Purāṇa, some examples are available which prove that the woman also
used to practise Yoga. Anasūyā, the wife of sage Atri, practised Yoga along
with her husband and was able to receive a boon from the gods to release
herself from affliction and to be blessed with Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva as
her sons Another example of practising Yoga is narrated in the 21 st
Chapter of the Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa. It has been stated that a Nāga king,
Aśvatara by name, practised Yoga and chose a boon from lord Śiva to have
Madāasā, the deceased wife of Ṛtadhaja, as his daughter having alive the
same age as when she died and making her a devote and the mother of Yoginī.
varadā varayogyā ca yadyahaṃ bhavatāṃ matā /
tadyāntu mama putratvaṃ brahmaviṣṇumaheśvarāḥ //
yogaṃ ca prāpnuyāṃ bhartṛsaṃhitā kleśamuktaye /16.90-91 asutra
Women in Religious Activities
According to Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa, the wife works as an assistant to her
husband in some religious works. This has been presented in the
Taittirīyabrāhmaṇa and the Śatapathabrāhmaṇa. The Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa also
advocates that without the wife a person is not fit for ijyākarma i.e. he
cannot perform religious sacrifices without being accompanied by his wife
Again, if he has more than one wife, the first wife is considered to be
worthy to accompany her husband in religious rites In this Purāṇa, the
worth of presence of wife in religious acts has been very well depicted in
the myth of the king Uttama and the king Nāga. No sacrificial works become
fruitful if these are accomplished without the help of his wife. Without
the cooperation of his wife, one cannot attain dharma, artha and kāma but
the wives have not the right to do their husband’s religious works
independently.
In this Purāṇa it is stated that for woman there is no need of performing
separate sacrifice, nor śrāddha nor upavāsa, because only by obedience to
her husband she can attain the desired worlds It is also worth mentioning
that leaving such a wife the husband is believed to be devoid of attaining
the fruits of his actions Moreover, it is against the religious values to
abandon one’s wife. The man who leaves his wife, is not worthy of any
religious rites, irrespective of being a Brāhmaṇa, a Kṣatriya, a Vaiśya and
a Śūdra. So, for a wife the husband and for a husband his wife is atyājya
i.e. not worthy to be forsaken. To be obedient to her husband is considered
to be the righteousness of a woman. By merely participating in any
religious act with her husband, she is able to achieve the right to receive
the half of the entire merit painfully earned by her husband and to reach
the desired worlds. Therefore, to enjoy the fruits of any religious
offerings, a wife should always be obedient to her husband.
In the Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa we find examoles of women practising austerities.
At that time, the women of royal families went to the forest to accompany
the husband at the forest hermitage. We find some examples in the
Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa which depict the dedication of women towards their
husbands. For example, king Ṛtadhvaja and his wife Madālasā retired to the
forest to practise penance When king Khanitra went to the forest to
practise austerities his three wives accomnied him Again king Karandhama
and Virā, his wife, retired to the forest to practi penance. After that
Karanadhama gained the world of Indra after his death and Virā practised
penance for hundred years more for gaining the same world. King Nariṣyanta
and his wife Indrasenā also da name derived from the name of a father or
ancestor, typically by the addition of a prefix or suffixeparted to the
forest to practise austerities.
Āpastamba used a hermeneutic strategy to assert that the Vedas once
contained all knowledge including that of ideal Dharma, but parts of Vedas
have been lost Human customs developed from the original complete Vedas,
but given the lost text, one must use customs between good people as a
source to infer what the original Vedas might have stated the Dharma to be.
This theory, called the ‘lost Veda’ theory, made the study of customs of
good people as a source of dharma and guide to proper living, states
Olivelle
Apastamba has given a strikingly accurate value for
{\displaystyle {\sqrt {2}}} in his which is correct up to five decimal
places Apastamba in his Sulbasutras provide approximate value of square
root of 2 as follows:
{\displaystyle 1+{\frac {1}{3}}+{\frac {1}{3\times 4}}-{\frac {1}{3\times
4\times 34}}={\frac {577}{408}}=1.41421{\overline {56862745098039}}.}
K RAJARAM IRS 16824
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