Atri's advice to Sita

[Vikram Voleti]

Hello all, 

I am fairly new to Advaita philosophy, and am currently spending a lot of my time reading and listening to discourses on our Smritis and Upanishads (in Sanskrit). 

I have a doubt about a point raised in Valmiki Ramayana. I'm not sure if this is the right forum to ask this - if not, please point me to the right forum.

Considering the Ramayana and Mahabharata have Advaita philosophy embedded in them, under a wrapping of moral advice for bhoutika life, I am listening/reading the Ramayana in Sanskrit, while considering both. There is a point raised towards the end of Ayodhya kanda when Rama, Lakshmana and Sita visit sage Atri and his wife Anasuya. Anasuya advices Sita on the virtues of a good wife. I am struggling to interpret one particular advice - a good wife always serves her husband, *even if he is virtuous or sinful*.

I can think of a lot of bad consequences of this sort of thinking, but I am assuming that I might be missing something. Is there anyone who could clarify this point for me please?  

Here are the verses in Sarga 117, Ayodhya Kanda (taken from valmikiramayan.net):

नगरस्थो वनस्थो वा पापो वा यदि वा अशुभः |
यासाम् स्त्रीणाम् प्रियो भर्ता तासाम् लोका महा उदयाः || २-११७-२२

22. yaasaam = to which; striiNaam = women; bhartaa = their husband; nagarasthaH = whether lives in a city; vanasthovaa = or in a forest; paapovaa = whether he is sinful; yadi vaa = or; shubhaH = virtuous; priyaH = (he is) dear (to her); taasaam = to them; (are obtained) mahodayaaH = greatly fortunate; lokaaH = words.

"Highly fortunate worlds await those women, await those women, to whom their husband is dear no matter whether he lives in a city or in a forest; whether he is sinful or virtuous."

Verse Locator

दुह्शीलः काम वृत्तो वा धनैर् वा परिवर्जितः |
स्त्रीणाम् आर्य स्वभावानाम् परमम् दैवतम् पतिः || २-११७-२३

23. striiNaam = to women; aaryasvabhaavaanaam = of noble nature; patiH = husband; paramam = is the hightest daivatam = deity; duSiilaH = whether he is ill-behaved; kaama vR^ittovaa = or licentious;parivarjitovaa = or devoid of; dhanaiH = riches.

"To women of noble nature, the husband is the highest deity no mater whether he is ill-behaved or licentious or devoid of riches."

[S. L. Abhyankar]

Overall import of the translations are okay, though word-by-word translations are not correct. A standard method, which I follow for studying a verse is 

(1) decipher conjoint words 

(2) understand formatting process of each word, getting to the root word, whether nominal root or verbal root 

(3) decipher compound words and apply (2) to get to root words of the component words

(4) understand from dictionary, meaning(s) of the nominal or verbal roots 

(5) put all words in a prose syntax 

(6) translate, selecting meanings appropriate to the context. Selection becomes necessary, because many words may have number of meanings.

Just for illustration, the first step would lend verse २-११७-२२ as =>

नगरस्थः वनस्थः वा पापः वा यदि वा अशुभः |

यासाम् स्त्रीणाम् प्रियः भर्ता तासाम् लोकाः महोदयाः ||

Actually there is a problem with last two words in first line. They can be written and pronounced as (i) वा शुभः or (ii) वाशुभः or (iii) वाsशुभः or (iv) वा (अ)शुभः  You will appreciate that meaning of (i) is just opposite of the rest three. This would underscore the importance of doing meticulous check of how the reference text is written. Sometimes a text as available could be wrongly written also. 

Basically the word अशुभः or शुभः is interesting. Usual meanings are अशुभः = of bad omen शुभः = of good omen. But by its etymology the words are derived from the verbal root शुभ् (शोभते) meaning the disposition being or becoming pleasant. For example an owl does not have any pleasant disposition at all. So it is अशुभः of bad disposition and hence of bad omen. A woman's husband being अशुभः means one, who does not have a good disposition, either by his looks (such as unkempt beard) or by his character. For example, a drunkard would not have a good social disposition.  

There is problem also with the last two words in second line. You have scripted them as महा उदयाः The word महा cannot be an independent word. It is a component of the compound word महोदयाः, which has the split महा-उदयाः. When deciphered at step (3) the deciphering would lend महान्तः उदयाः येषु ते  महोदयाः The compound word महोदयाः  is adjective of लोकाः  Together the two words महोदयाः लोकाः mean "(those) worlds, where the (sun)-rises are (big), i.e. where the days are always bright, OR (those) worlds, where everything gives rise to big (things)  The translation quoted by you as "greatly fortunate" cannot be dubbed as wrong. But the translation what one can get by deciphering would be more satisfying. Would you agree ?

Maybe you would like my method of study. If yes, you may proceed accordingly. 

[gobind medini]

Dear Shri Vikram Veloti-ji, 

In Sanskrit textual analysis, six characteristic signs are used for discerning the text or the topic:

उपक्रमोपसंहारावभ्यासोऽपूर्वताफलम्। 

अर्थवादोपपत्ती च लिङ्गं तात्पर्य निर्णये।। 

1. Consistency between "opening and closing paragraphs" (उपक्रम-उपसंहार) , 2. Emphasis by "repeation" (अभ्यास), 3. "Originality" (अपूर्वता), of the idea, 4. "Result" (फल) if the text (idea) is put in practice, 5. "Eulogy" (अर्थवाद), or praising of the subject to illustrate its importance, 6. "Reason" - argument or justification for or against the subject. 

Eulogy often uses exaggeration, apparent perversion, fantasy, or any other means to illustrate the importance of the subject (person, event, quality, virtue, idea etc.). It is not to be taken as true in a literal sense. It is to be reconciled with the norms (शिष्ठाचार) of the day. 

For example,  sage Atri is eulogizing the good wife and not endorsing the sins of the husband. A good (wise) wife is supposed to ignore the minor follies or inadequacies of her husband and love him. According to modern norms, she can advise him (and even admonish him) to stay away from the sins without stopping loving him or being unfaithful to him. Of course, all this need not be stretched beyond a limit where a virtue itself becomes a perversion (सद्गुणविकृति).

regards,

g

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "भारतीयविद्वत्परिषत्" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to bvparishat+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to bvpar...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.