Page:The Rámáyana of Tulsi Dás.djvu/396

 336 THE FOREST, to thy own sphere in heaven. Lord, the unchangeable and omnipresent power, the eternal governor of the world, the one absolute and universal spirit; the joy of all men day after day. I reverently adore thee, the king of incomparable beauty, the lord of the earth- born Síta ; be gracious to me and grant me devotion to thy lotus feet." They who reverently repeat this hymn, full of faith in thee, will undoubtedly attain to thy heaven. I worship thee, the one, the mysterious Dohá 2. Again with bowed head and folded hands the saint made supplication and cried, 'Never, O Lord, may my soul abandon thy lotus feet.' Chaupái. The amiable and modest Sita clasped Anasúyá² by the feet with frequent embraces. The soul of the Rishi's wife was filled with joy ; she gave her her blessing and seated her by her side. Then arrayed her in heavenly robes and jewels which remained ever bright and beautiful. In simple and affectionate phrase the saintly dame spoke and instructed her in matters of wifely duty. "Hearken, royal lady ; mother, father, brethren and friends are all good in a limited degree ; but a husband, Vaidehi, is an unlimited blessing; and vile is the woman who worships him not. Courage, virtue, a friend and a woman are four things that are tried in time of adversity. Though her lord be old, diseased, impotent and poor, blind, deaf, passionate and utterly vile, yet even so the wife who treats him with disrespect shall suffer many torments in hell. Her one duty, her one fast and penance consist in a devotion of body, word and thought to her husband's feet, There are four kinds of faithful wife in the world, as the Vedas, Puránas and saints all say. The best is so firmly settled in mind that she could not even dream of there being any other man living; the next regards another's husband as her own brother or father, or son; she who is restrained by thought of duty and consideration for her family is said in the scriptures to be a woman of low character; but reckon her the very lowest of all, who is restrained only by fear and want of opportunity. She who de- ceives her husband and carries on an intrigue with another man shall be cast for a hundred ages into the hell called the terrible. Who such a wretch as she, who for a moment's pleasure considers not the torment that shall endure IThe whole of this Chhand is in loose and occasionally ungrammatical Sanskrit, like the language of the Gáthás in Buddhist literature. The interview with Atri and Anasúyá is narrated at the end of the Ayodhyá Kánd in one recension of the Sanskrit Rámáyana.