Verse 5.152

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:

विशीलः कामवृत्तो वा गुणैर्वा परिवर्जितः ।
उपचार्यः स्त्रिया साध्व्या सततं देववत् पतिः ॥ १५२ ॥

viśīlaḥ kāmavṛtto vā guṇairvā parivarjitaḥ |
upacāryaḥ striyā sādhvyā satataṃ devavat patiḥ || 152 ||

Be he ill-mannered or of licentious habits or destitute of good qualities,—the husband should always be attended upon like a god by the true wive.—(152).

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

‘Ill-mannered.’— Addicted to gambling and other evil habits.

‘Of licentious habits’— whose nature is prone to be voluptuous.

‘Destitute of good qutalities’—devoid of learning, wealth and other good qualities.

‘Should he attended upon’— served.—(152).

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

(Verse 154 of others.)

Cf. 9.78 et. seq.

This verse is quoted in Madanapārijāta, (p. 193);—in Saṃskāraratnamālā, (p. 675), which leads ‘upacāraiḥ’ (for ‘upacaryaḥ’), and says that ‘pūjanīyaḥ,’ ‘should be honoured’, is understood;—in Nṛsiṃhaprasāda (Saṃskāra, p. 67a);—and in Varṣakriyākaumudī, (p. 579).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 5.152-153)

Yājñavalkya (1.77).—‘Women should act up to the words of their husbands,—this is the highest duty of woman.’

Śaṅkha (Aparārka, p. 102).—‘Only with the permission of her husband shall she undertake fasts, observances and the like.’

Viṣṇu (25.15-16).—‘No sacrifice, no penance, and no fasting is permitted to women apart from their husbands; to pay obedience to her lord is the only means for a woman to obtain bliss in heaven. A woman who keeps a fast or performs a penance in the life-time of her husband, deprives him of his life and will go to hell.’

Mārkaṇḍeya (Parāśaramādhava, Prāyaścitta, p. 31).—‘If a woman without the permission of her father, husband or son performs a penance, it becomes futile.’

Kātyāyana (Parāśaramādhava, Prāyaścitta, p. 31).—‘The wife should perform penances only with the permission of her husband.’