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Ashtashashti Parva
286
Who are you and where have you come from? - she asked in a mocking tone. I am the mother of the gardener, she replied.
Thereafter, to test their minds, she spoke again: O venerable ones! The other women, besides you, are devoid of merit, while you are the ones blessed with virtue, for you always indulge in pleasures with these princes. Tell me, what pious deed did you perform in your previous birth, which I shall also do, so that I may become the queen of this king and estrange him from other queens.
Hearing her words, those women laughed, saying: Her body is afflicted by old age, but her mind is still youthful and agitated by desire.
In response, the old woman said: You, who are endowed with the glory of your family, beauty and skills, should not laugh. The fruit of equal love that you have attained is the greatest fruit of birth.
She continued: If this is the fruit of your birth, then today we shall unite you with your respective husbands in a proper manner. You shall become the chief queen without any hesitation.
Seeing the old woman becoming the target of their laughter like arrows, Sita, out of compassion, asked: Why do you desire womanhood? It seems you do not even understand your own good.
Those queens, experiencing the state of womanhood, have attained the inauspicious fruit in this world. O foolish one! This female state is the fruit of great sin. Listen, if a girl's characteristics are not good, no man accepts her, so she has to remain in her home out of sorrow. Besides, she has to protect her family's honor until death.
If someone remains childless, there is sorrow in both the families she has entered and the one she was born in. If, due to misfortune, she becomes barren, she loses her dignity.
If a woman becomes unfortunate or unattractive, her husband abandons her, leading to constant disrespect. Due to the impurity of menstruation, she becomes untouchable. If the husband abandons her due to conflicts, etc., she has to suffer the anguish of the forest fire, like the trees. Not to speak of others, even the daughter of a emperor has to serve others.