गृहस्थकर्त्तव्यानिThe duties of the householder
Verse 39
न भार्यां ताडयेत् क्वापि मातृवत् पालयेत् सदा । न त्यजेत् घोरकष्टेऽपि यदि साध्वी पतिव्रता ॥ ३९ ॥
na bhāryāṁ tāḍayēt kvāpi mātṛvat pālayēt sadā | na tyajēt ghōrakaṣṭē’pi yadi sādhvī pativratā || 39 ||
Translation
He should never strike his wife; he should always care for her as for a mother; he should not leave her even in dire hardship, if she is good and faithful.
Word by word
- na
- not
- bhāryāṁ
- his wife
- tāḍayēt
- he should strike
- kvāpi
- ever
- mātṛvat
- as a mother
- pālayēt
- he should care for
- sadā
- always
- tyajēt
- he should leave
- ghōra
- dire
- kaṣṭē
- in hardship
- api
- even
- yadi
- if
- sādhvī
- good
- pativratā
- faithful
Meaning
Three rules for the husband: no violence, ever ("kvāpi", in any circumstance); care for her as one would care for one's own mother; and no abandoning her even in the worst straits. In a society where the law-books sometimes allowed a husband to beat his wife, the Tantra forbids it outright. The condition "if she is good and faithful" qualifies only the last rule.
Commentary
Hariharānanda Bhāratī’s Sanskrit commentary, translated
See the commentary on verse 38.