Verse 9.11

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

अर्थस्य सङ्ग्रहे चैनां व्यये चैव नियोजयेत् ।
शौचे धर्मेऽन्नपक्त्यां च पारिणाह्यस्य वेक्षणे ॥ ११ ॥

arthasya saṅgrahe caināṃ vyaye caiva niyojayet |
śauce dharme'nnapaktyāṃ ca pāriṇāhyasya vekṣaṇe || 11 ||

He shall employ her in the accumulation and disbursement of wealth, as also in cleanliness, in religious acts, in the cooking of food and in taking care of the household furniture.—(11)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

‘Wealth’—riches.

‘Accumulation’—Counting and storing in the house; tying up with ropes eta., and keeping in a safe place, dealing them and so forth.

‘Disbursement’—Expenditure of the wealth: so much for rice, so much for curry, so much for vegetables, and so forth.

‘Cleanliness’—Cleaning of utensils and ladles and washing the floor etc., etc.

‘Religious acts’—rinsing the mouth, offering oblations of water and other things, and the worshipping of deities with flowers and offerings, in the women’s apartments.

‘Cooking of food’—well known.

‘Taking care of the household furniture’—Such as stools and couches.

In all this the husband shall employ his wife.—(11)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Vivādaratnākara (p. 416), which explains ‘pāriṇāhyasya’ as ‘ear-rings, bracelets, and so forth’;—in Parāśaramādhava (Vyavahāra, p. 323);—in Smṛtitattva (II, p. 147), which explains ‘pāriṇāyya’ (which is its reading for ‘pāriṇāhya’) as ‘bed-stead and other household furniture’;—and in Madanapārijāta (p. 191).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Śukranīti (4.4.12-32).—‘She should get up before her husband and purify her body, then raise the beddings and clean the house by sweeping and washing...... should then cleanse the vessels used in sacrifices and keep them at the proper places; empty out the vessels and fill them with water; should wash the cooking utensils, cleanse the hearth and place therein fire with fuel;—should scrutinise the vessels to be used and the various articles of food...... She should then dress and cook the food, inform her husband and feed those who have to be fed with the offerings made to gods and Pitṛs;—again in the evening, as in the morning, she should clean the house, cook the food and feed her husband and the servants.’

Bṛhaspati (24.4).—‘Employing the woman in looking after income and expenditure, in the preparation of food, in looking after household furniture, in purifications and in the care of the fires, is declared to he the best way of guarding her.’

Yajñavalkya (1.83).—‘Keeping the household articles in order, expert in work, happy, averse to expensive ways, devoted to her husband, she shall how to the feet of her parents-in-law.’

Viṣṇu (25.1 et seq.).—‘The duties of a woman are to keep household articles in good array, to maintain saving habits, to be careful with her domestic utensils,’