pachai maamalai pol mene

Thursday, December 16, 2010

a good wife holds the key

यक्ष उवाच
धर्ममर्थश्चकामश्च परस्पर विरोधिनः।
एषाम् नित्यविरुद्धानाम् कथमेकत्र सङ्गमः॥
युधिष्ठिर उवाच
यदा धर्मश्च भार्या च परस्परवशानुगौ।
तदा धर्मार्थकामानं त्रयाणामपि सङ्गमः॥
yakṣa uvāca
dharmamarthasca kāmasc paraspara virodhinaḥ|
eṣām nityviruddhānāṁ kathamekatra saṅgamaḥ||
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca
yadā dharmasca bhāryā ca parasparavaśānugau|
tadā dharmārthakāmānaṁ trayāṇāmapi saṅgamaḥ||

The above extract from the celebrated Yaksha Prasnam in Mahabharatham,   when during the sojourn in forest by the pandavas, Yudhistira got thirsty and asked  his younger brothers to fetch water, and the brothers from Sahadeva to Bhima,  went to a nearby  lake to bring water.  One by one they were challenged  by a bird to answer certain queries  and  warned them not to drink water without answering them .  All the four ignored  the bird's request and fell dead.  
Ultimately Yudhistira himself went to the lake and he realized that the bird was not an ordinary being but a Yaksha  incognito.  He respectfully started answering all the questions raised.  
The discussion has   emerged as  a worthy treatise on human  conduct.
The Yaksha is making a query..
.virtue, wealth and desire are three mutually conflicting factors in human life.
 In pursuing virtue on can face a situation where his wealth is depleted and his personal desires are challenged to their detriment too often.  

The poser here is how these three can be balanced to have a fulfilling  life.
Yudhishtira has a very sensible  answer. 

 The day to day  virtuous activities  of a man are mostly under the silent but active participation  of his wife. Besides the domestic finance cannot be managed without the genuine  support of a good wife..And for an honest man all his desires are fulfilled and enjoyed only by sharing such happiness with wife.  Thus if one man is fortunate to have  a discerning and  wise lady as his wife..there will be absolute control over the apparently conflicting interests.

Some of my friends queried as to whether there is any mention extolling the excellence of a wife in our scriptures, when I had quoted  from neetisaaram earlier,   where the danger of having bad wife was described . This is perhaps the answer to it through yaksha prasna.



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