Page 23 - Powerful Feminine Qualities

If the wife is proud of her education, parentage or family lineage, or any material designation by which she may think
herself superior to her husband, the wife will not be submissive to her husband because of her pride and because she
does not understand the psychology of the husband-wife relationship. This will ruin the marriage compatibility.
There are customary rituals that wives follow for the good of their husbands. One such ritual is Karva Chauth. It is a
one day festival celebrated by Hindu women in North India. Hindu wives fast for one day from sunrise to moonrise for
the safety and longevity of their husbands. The good will manifested by the wife toward her husband is symbolically
important because it reaffirms her dedication to serve her husband with humility and feelings of good will.

Wives who have brought their husbands back from death or saved their husbands from death
There are Vedic histories of wives who have saved their husbands from death or brought their husbands back from
death by the purity of their faithfulness, chastity and dedication to the welfare of their husband and in-laws. The story
of Veervati is famous. She was tricked by her brother to break her Karva Chauth fast too early. As a result her husband
died. She was advised by a demi-goddess to redo the fast with complete devotion. Due to sincere devotion and strict
fast, Yamaraja was forced to restore her husband to life. There is another similar story about Savitri, the wife of
Satyavan, who was destined to die young. Before he died, Savitri fasted from food and water, and served her
husband’s parents. When her husband died, she followed Yamaraja, the demigod of death, who was taking the soul of
her husband to the world of death. She pleaded with him to give her husband back. He refused. But he agreed to give
her three blessings because she was a “pati-vrat” (a faithful, devoted wife). She tricked him by asking to have a child.
When Yamaraja agreed, he was forced to bring her husband back to life because she could not have a child from
anyone else other than her husband.
A husband that works outside the house can become agitated by so many material contacts in the world of corporate
and business competition. When he comes home, it is important that his wife treat him with sweet words and kind,
affectionate gestures to help him forget the abrasive relations of the outside world. If the couple can engage in simple
acts of worship in the home, it can quickly erase the effects of materialistic associations outside the home.
For harmony it is good if the wife has a kindred spirit or is a soul-mate of her husband so that she can follow his
principles. She must recognize her husband’s tendencies and be amenable to follow him. If the husband is a devotee
and the wife is materialistic or vice-versa, then there will not be peace and harmony in the home.
It is the duty of the wife to follow and assist her husband. If he is a good devotee, then auspicious things occur for the
happy couple. Even if the husband leaves much to be desired by his behavior, it is the wife’s duty to adapt herself to
her husband’s circumstances, and remain faithful and helpful by practicing Krishna consciousness discreetly, and
without any resentment that he does not follow.
There was a chaste and faithful wife in Vedic history named Silavati. Her husband was a Brahmana, who had leprosy.
His limbs were seriously disfigured. She cared for him as he was an invalid, and carried him where he needed to go.
She would go door to door begging in the houses of Brahmanas to feed and maintain her husband. His condition
improved due to her constant care. She continued her begging while she carried him. Once while returning home
accompanied by her invalid husband, Silavati passed by a huge mansion. Wastewater was flowing out of the gate of
the mansion. Silavati purposely avoided stepping in the water by making a long detour to avoid it. When they reached
their humble dwelling, Ugrasravas, her husband, asked why she made such a long detour to avoid the wastewater.
Silavati explained that the mansion belonged to a prostitute. She considered it a sin to touch the water coming from
her house.
When Ugrasravas heard it was the house of a prostitute, he felt an irresistible desire to visit the brothel. Unashamed,
he expressed his desire to his wife. Silavati decided that she would somehow convince the prostitute to accept to
please her husband. After begging every day and returning to her husband, feeding him and caring for him, Silavati
would go to the mansion of the prostitute, clean the pathways outside the property, and gradually day after day
beautify the entrance by planting flowers. Eventually the lady of the mansion noticed that someone was making her
entrance exceptionally attractive, although she did not commission such work. She asked her servants who was doing

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